![Very Cool! Make Your Own Star Wars: Legion Imperial Agent & Officer | Review [7 Days Early Access]](https://images.beastsofwar.com/2025/12/Star-Wars-Imperial-Agent-_-Officer-coverimage-V3-225-127.jpg)
The Weekender: X-Wing, Competition Winners & A Big Thanks!
November 16, 2013 by dignity
We're back with another weekend to help wake you up in the morning. This time around we have a great big shout out to all the people who have put their names forward as writers for the site and are helping us look at a diverse range of content.
As well as that we have had a whole bunch of awesome competitions running, and still running, where you can get your hands on some ace gamer swag so listen out to see if you could win.
With Christmas so close we also have a look at what's on our wishlist and ponder on the awesomeness that is X-Wing for Game of the Weekend.
Links:-
X-Wing
http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=174&enmi=X-Wing
X-Com
http://www.xcom.com/enemyunknown/entry
On The Table Season 6 Episode 7
//www.beastsofwar.com/on-the-table/s6-ep7/
Have a great weekend!
Supported by (Turn Off)
Supported by (Turn Off)
Supported by (Turn Off)
Great show as always guys.
The missus is already well aware of my xmas wish list.
I’m hoping that she gets me the Deadzone collectors edition.
Massive fan of Xwing so would love to see more coverage of that little gem of a game, not to mention the Star Trek Attack Wing game, which I would like to check out.
Keep up the good work and looking forward to tomorrows XLBS.
I like the fireside Weekenders, it’s works really well.
I give a list of gaming stuff I want to the missus, she collects together the money that her and my family would spend on me, then buys some stuff offa the list. Works brilliantly.
I tend to agree that X-Wing is a great game to introduce new gamers to tabletop mini-gaming. The flipside of that, at least for me, is that as an experienced gamer I find the game to be a bit lightweight. It’s good for an hour’s filler but I can’t get properly into it. Throw in the cost of the minis and it doesn’t see my gaming dollar. Fortunately, there are a couple of people in my group who have a fair few ships so I still get to play.
X-Wing is perfect Xmas.
Awesome Weekender guys and the highlight of my day J
X-wing … wow its just an amazing game.
I got into this a couple of months ago after having seen it several times in my local gaming stores and online but after a trip to a mates house and a couple of intro games on a Saturday afternoon I was hooked….so much so I didn’t sleep that night and went out first thing Sunday morning to buy buy buy!
….well i now find myself now sitting on some 40+ ships and a couple of custom large ones too
Since then my friends and I have been playing it in a small gaming group at the local. Each time we have played together and with new players (both male and female) they have picked up the games simple movement and shooting mechanics with turn/priority sequence very well and quickly…so much so by the end of the game they are using the character traits on the cards with a heavy dose of focus and evade to mop up those pesky Ties!
I do like though how the gaming rules work – expanding on what the guys said on the video it gets so very deep and tactical when your planning moves for your craft and pilots.
You often find that your taking into account the lower skilled pilots who will move first – WHILE trying to maintain that all formation with other ships and if your using special upgrade cards like swarm tactics (Enabling a lower level pilot to share the a higher level pilots shooting ability so he can fire sooner in the shooting phase) THEN looking to move in for the kill WITH trying to anticipate the other players/pilots move and terrain on the gaming area…..it sounds a little complicated but when you’ve executed such a manoeuvre and find your ships placed in the perfect position for ambush, well its priceless…specially if you’re the Imperial player taking out those ‘Rebel Scum!’
Aside from a huge love of Star Wars though what hooked me both in the box and on the table was the quality of the pre-painted miniatures, which are absolutely fantastic!
Id go so far as to say stunning really though with these pre-paints and shows what can be done within the industry. The game is a win win for me but id say for those who are looking for an out of the box product to play straight away or those not with the time or hobbying confidence to build and paint models.
All in all a super game with the complexity of tactics surprising you the deeper and deeper you delve into a galaxy far far away!
Enjoy
@warzan did I hear you say “corpse-humping”? Is that a thing with online games?
Great show again guys.
My number one thing this Christmas is the Deadzone game, looking forward to that one.
Other than that, I’d go with one of the new plastic crew boxsets for the new version of malifaux, I’ve seen the first ones in the flesh and they are very very good indeed, the Legion of Everblight huge dragon thingy colossal because its probably the best painting project out there at the minute (or one of the reaper bones dragons if budget is limited, they are fantastic for £15 or so) and finally a copy of dreadball deluxe, its probably the perfect board game/miniature crossover right now, and I think its more fun than X Wing.
Whilst I work on my 12 gifts for xmas list, I have to thank you for introducing me to Xcom, I ordered it Thursday and expect it sometime soon, hopefully today. 🙂 Having not played video games for quite a while for the reasons Lloyd stated with his brew.
Will post again soon with a few xmas ideas, one of which SHOULD be a years pass to backstage, as it is a present that lasts for 12 months and easy to purchase, hehe. You put a great case forward with regards to the justification of Backstage too Warren, thanks.
Mick
I agree that gifts should stay away from wargamming miniatures. It is all warhammer to most people so unless you want a random box of elves or space marines, stay away. This is particularly disappointing if you wanted a new warjack or a dreadball team.
A great gift for wargamers would be some nice MDF terrain. For terrain your benefactor only needs two facts: genre (fantasy, sci-fi, westen, WWII) and scale (30mm, 15mm, 10mm). CNC workshop, Micro Art Studio, Tectonic Crafts, and Plast-Craft Inc. have been pushing quality higher and higher.
Unfortunately, most of these are located in various countries spread out across the world and it can be very difficult to source and you’ll likely end up with international shipping which is expensive and might be too slow to get there for the holidays.
Would our best gaming Xmas pressies list be best placed in its own forum thread? That way they’d all be in one place and wouldn’t need sifting out from other comments.
Wow, cant believe I won something, It’s like an early Christmas present,Thanks guys.
On the subject of Christmas presents, I think the list idea is great, as it can be a big problem for people who don’t know what to get you.
Grats HK1X1. 😀
My 12 days of xmas presents list:
1, Kickstarter Vouchers: This allows the bearer to spend £X.XX on a KS project of there choice. Family and friends can combine their efforts to unlock your special KickStarter purchasing powers.
2, Hobby time Vouchers: This little beauty is not designed to open doors for you, instead it is designed to close them, allowing you undisrupted hobby time on a day of your choosing. Fire alarms, A&E visits, child birth and natural disasters reset the value of the voucher should they happen on your special day.
3, 1 Years access to backstage: The new product that Warren WILL make after reading this idea.
4, Beasts of War Live Christmas audience member: The bearer of this voucher may combine it both a muffin and a coffee/hot chocolate in order to gain access to the knees of Warren, Brother Lloyd and Justin during a Christmas showing of a weekender. Signed photos of the occasion will be made available and photos will be published to show none attendees what they were missing out on. You also get to ask the BoW team for a special BoW Christmas gift, as you would if you sat on the real Santa’s knee in Argos.
5, Hobby Light: So many people don’t have them as they think it doesn’t make much of a difference, so do them a huge favour a take the decision away from them and just get it for them. They will then squeal like a girl when they learn how fantastic they are.
6, Board Game: Rivet Wars: So cute, easy to play and set-up it could be used as an intro game for all the family.
7, Card Game: Android Netrunner: Affordable game that can be enlarged due to expansion packs should the owner like it. Easily sold on Ebay should they not like it. Remember to buy them card sleeves for all of the cards contained in the box. Info on the sleeves can be sourced throughout the very helpful FFG website.
8, Computer Game: Xcom: 1 player Turn based computer game with great graphics. I have only just learnt of this from Beast of War as I banned myself playing computer games as I prefer table top. Xcom appears to be the best of both worlds, AT LAST!!!
9, Infinity Art book, Amazing art for the Sci-fi lover. If they like the art they will love the free rules and then the cheap step into a faction box and beyond.
10, Table Top Games Starter Boxes Skirmish: Wild West Exodus: New 2player starter set that is currently in distribution with a huge array of plastic miniatures and a monthly release of miniatures, books. This is one game you will want to get in on sooner rather than later otherwise you will be wanting too much from them later.
11, Table Top Games Starter Boxes: Deadzone: A great value TT game that bridges the gap between board game and miniatures. Very easily contained to a table top and only needs 2x2ft. Also allows for an introduction in to small amounts of terrain building, which is great for getting the kids involved to. A true father and son project.
12, Table Top Games Starter Boxes: Dropzone Commander: I think Santa is in for a sever kicking if this isn’t on a lot of peoples list this year. The value and quality of this starter box is definitely a market leader. Large array of miniatures with flawless casting, terrain and board included, large dice, cute tape measure and an awesome book and accurate reference cards. This is literally an all in one package, if only it contained a huge roll of Duct Tape to keep the Mrs quiet, you could lock yourself away from days with this, but then who would cook the pizza? Sorry didn’t think this one all the way through. 😛 hehe
Mick
I absolutely love XCOM:E.U, I played the original back in the 90s when I was first getting into 40k as well, but having read a review of Enemy Within yesterday I was a bit put off – its not an expansion to add on the end of your existing saves / completed campaign, it’s additional content that goes into the existing game, so you have to start all over again with this extra stuff thrown in along the way. I want to take my uber-team that I already have and make them even better, fighting against tougher aliens, not go back to the beginning and make my grunts uber in a slightly different way.
Forgot to say, I gave my wife a gift list from the GW website as a hint for xmas! 😀
X Wing is great!
But since I’ve already got it, I’d go for the Drop Zone Commander Starter Set 😀
Today I picked up a copy of Xcom: enemy unknown. Dead excited, stuck it into the xbox and got a system error message – gutted!!
Problem fixed – thank you You Tube 🙂
Warren, where did you get that T-shirt (the one with the lion’s head)? I want one! 😀
Tell me the location of the secret Rebel snug….
great show guys, great way to start my saturday
In my current game of xcom I have an Irish team member armed with an arc thrower, he’s basically the lunatic that runs up to the alien to capture it. His name is Warren. As soon as more Irish soldiers become available there will be a Lloyd and Justin.
Could use Justin to draw the aliens fire for Warren I suppose and Lloyd can stand back in overwatch laughing.
I feel like the gamers are being assaulted with a flurry of so called “stream line rules”
This x wing is part of that. Not that everything must be complex to be enjoyed but some depth would be nice
On the other side when looking at board games I shudder especially when dealing with fantasy flight and others, when you see the new trend is buy this game and be fully prepared to buying a flurry of expansions and add ons to the game.
I don’t know really not liking the direction of current trends I see atm…
I want a game that is complete and not running line with a house payment or other monthly bills.
BAH HUMBUG 🙂
Games can have streamlined rules yet still have a lot of depth. X-Wing is a bit too much on the simple side.
I’m partial to boardgame expansions. I can get bored with games quite easily and expansions can help hold my interest. If I have a complaint with FFG, it’s that their games often need an expansion or two before they’re any good. BF’s Spartacus is another good example. It’s one expansion in and still needs to sort some things out.
A good example of this is chess. You can write the rules on the back of a postcard yet the game has such depth that mastering it can earn you a place in history.
OK sports fans there is without doubt a ton of evidence to support that x-wing is neither historical or can their even be found a pubic hair, of depth any where within a 10 mile radius of this game.
So chess it is not however what it does have going for it much to my personal despair, Is a bunch of fanboys who tend to rub their little light sabers a bit too much
whenever somebody does release anything even closely related to the movie cult following.
Their is only one trilogy and it isn’t star wars its “Lord of the rings”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxAEo3CWeq8
TBH I’m not that arsed about Star Wars (3 decent movies, 3 that I’m not interested in, probably ditto whatever they crank out next). I’m just making the point that simple rules don’t necessarily make for an overly simple game; nor are complex rules a guarantee of a good game.
To support this I’d offer Dreadball vs Bloodbowl. 2 games, same genre, I much prefer the former – fewer rules, but retains its tactical depth.
To be fair chess is a fantastic example of lite on the rules and rich with tactics and depth.
I don’t think we have people who can create that level of game today, though much less match it at being around century or how ever many later. although one could always hope to create something like that.
Another nice episode! I like how you present the weeks topics in such a laid back easy to relate to way. It is nice to see and it is like we are all at a table discussing the games.
Having just picked up X Wing and some extra ships we are excited to learn to play and expand our galaxy!
x-wing is a great game. It should be game of the year. Very good episode guys.
12 Days of Gamers Christmas….In no particular order:
X-Wing
Deadzone
Bolt Action – Assault on Normandy
Flames of War – Open Fire!
Hail Caesar – The Conquest of Gaul
Pike & Shotte – For King & Country
Dropzone Commander Starter Set
Dreadball
Kings of War Two Player Set
Discworld Ankh-Morpork
Guards! Guards!
Risk
And as much Lindor as you can eat 🙂
Uh oh… Now I’ll have to convince my brother in law to play this with me… He’s a huge Star War fan and I’m slowly introducing him to wargaming… On various occasions, he told me that if it were Star War themed, he’d get in right away… Now is my chance! 😉
I was after the Gears of War board game for ages. Couldn’t find it anywhere. Seemed like it was rare as rocking horse poo!
Then last month at the London MCM expo I was helping my friend hunt through a load of Halo figures on one of the stalls. I glanced up and there like a message from god, (as it had a halo of Halo figures ) was the game i’d been after all that time.
You’ve never seem me move so fast as when I snatched it off the bench. lol
Ohh happy days. 🙂
LOL I was at that Expo cos playing for the One Piece UK group (as guys know Im an anime nut) I know that exact stall I actually said to my girlfriend its really quite a find….
Im glad it got bought 😀
Great show guys, cant wait to see you all soon…
Which Character.
Blonde hair… crappy beard… An excessive amount of suits…
Who else could I be 😉
Hehe. I was cos playing a Marine from Aliens. ( Admitedly only as accurately as a bright blue pulse rifle and a flack jacket woiuld allow. But what the hell. It was fun. lol )
Muwahhahhaaaa. I had no room in my luggage for the box but I just didn’t care. lol
And having just read the above post by llandreville I realise it looks like I was answereing them as opposed to making the general comment I intended. lol
Also.
The figures in the game are fantastic for board game pieces. ( Well, all except the CoG troopss which are a bit crap. )
I don’t want to get into x-wing because it’s all pre-everything. For me, this hobby is about building things, not opening boxes with everything ready to go.
Yeah, you could repaint them, but what if that ended up looking worse than the factory job? Mighty embarrassing…
For me, the hobby is about playing games with cool looking pieces. I couldn’t give a flying fig about building them. I know more than a few people who don’t get into the hobby because they have no desire to snip, glue and paint (or even just snip and glue).
I do build stuff because I have to, but I wouldn’t if I didn’t. I’d rather use that time playing the games. Some people build model cars, some people buy model cars (there are big markets for both). But that goes to show that there is an audience for all the very many different aspects of the gaming hobby.
Some people are repainting their X-Wing ships (and I intend to do a few, myself, just to make them more unique). Make the hobby work for you and, most importantly, have fun!
Another great show. Personally I’m asking for the FoW Starter box since Warren and Dave did such a amazing job making the game look like so much fun!
So, twelve days of Christmas. Leaving aside concerns what individuals like* and may already have, there’s a lot of limits on what you can get if you want the gift to definitely be useful. Starter boxes and board games are obvious ones as they don’t require that the person either already be playing or that they have to buy more stuff to make the gift useable. In that respect I offer the following starter boxes –
Flames of War: Open Fire
Dropzone Commander
Deadzone
All three have had enough coverage on BoW not to need much explanation. Playable out of the box with rules, minis, and terrain. I’ve not included X-Wing on this list purely because you only get three ships in the starter, and it consequently has very little replayability in and of itself.
There’s a huge amount of boardgames to choose from. I offer these three –
Super Dungeon Explore
Twilight Struggle
DreadBall
Three very different games, two of which feature miniatures as a key component so they should appeal to mini-gamers. SDE and DB have a lot of playability out of the box and can be built on with expansions. TS is entirely self-contained, has no minis, but has immense depth and replayability.
I’m going to assume that all mini-gamers either paint or want to find the time to paint. So hobby supplies are another potential avenue. I offer these –
Windsor & Newton Series 7 Miniature brushes size 0, 2. and 4.
Masters Brush Cleaner
Scale 75 Flesh paint set
The cost of W&N brushes puts most people off so they make an ideal Xmas gift. Once you’ve tried ’em, you’ll never go back. You’ll want to take care of them properly so Masters is a must. I’ve reviewed the Scale 75 paint set over on the forums. There can’t be many mini-gamers who never need to paint flesh and this set is the best on the market IMO. Perfect for your fancy new brushes.
Terrain is another natural Xmas gift. We all need it but often overlook it in favour of buying more minis instead. Terrain is a little trickier as much of it is specific to certain genres and buying blind as a gift is risky. For my final three gift ideas, I offer these –
Tabletop World Town House/Blacksmiths/Merchant’s House
4Ground trees
Battle Systems Sci-Fi modular terrain
If your gaming family member doesn’t play any games that use TTW buildings, they’ll damn sure get one as soon as they get their hands on those beauties. The 4Ground trees are cheap, versatile, and very handy. They come on MDF bases and each tree can be lifted out to allow the minis to move around. There’s still 15 days to get a letter to Santa asking for a Battle Systems pledge. Great for that Deadzone starter box you got your loved one all they way back at the start of this post, and a whole host of other games besides.
*For example, unwrapping Dark Vengeance on Xmas morning would be a personal nightmare lol
I really want to get hold of the Gears of War boardgames.
Great show as usual.
For my Christmas wishlist I have to agree with Justin. The Firefly boardgame is definitely on there.
To play with my board/strategy game friends who just need that little push into minis I would like to get Dreadball (Ultimate).
Personally I think the Dropzone Commander starterset is a great gift for wargames, since the box contains everything you need and is good value for money.
And a thing I’m looking forward to that’s probably not on any other list is the Pendraken Miniatures non-kickstarter 10mm Mongol range that I signed up for. They should be released just in time for Christmas.
Need to get my wife to try x-wing…
Great show!
Deadzone would be my pick, but whether my wife sees it like that I’m not so sure.
Any news on the other Kings of War week prizes?
I am looking forward to getting my deadzone pledge soon.
Also hoping to get some Perry or Kingsford Samurai to help with my KOW army.
Some bolt action British wouldnt go amiss either.
Finally as mentioned earlier I wouldn’t mind the Gears of War board game. Been playing the Xbox game with the misses lately.
If I was buying for other gamers starter sets would be the way to go
Deadzone
Drop Zone commander
Flames of War
Bolt action
Xwing
all have decent two player sets to get you started.
Very excited about Enemy Within and all the tweaks that will come to the campaign with it
We should thank you for that video idea.
Another great show. I was thinking about your explanation for the need for backstagers. I guess I kind of thought of it as a kickstarter thing. I love what you guys are doing and want to support it to keep it going. The extra content is a nice bonus. Have you guys ever thought of putting out some gear? I for one would spend some cash on t-shirt or something with your logo on it if I thought it would support you more.
For Christmas, I think I would have to go with the Firefly boardgame as well. I am also looking forward to the Firefly rpg putting out more stuff. This is not Serenity. The rights got picked up for an actual Firefly verse. A friend of mine who has been writing and publishing with a famous fantasy author ( intentionally not naming to avoid it looking like an advertisement for them) told me about it. Not big into RPGs anymore, but love the Firefly verse, so started picking up some of the stuff online and they are supposed to be putting out a lot more stuff.
X-wing looks ok, but probably would not get into it myself. Being more of a collector, modeler, I like being able to put the models together and paint them myself. I am thinking that my next collection project will either be Kow or Malifaux. Both look nice and have good story potential from what I have seen.
I am liking the fireside chats. Thanks for another good start to the weekend.
Deadzone ( already pledge for it ).
Mars Attack
Alien vs Predator ( i still didn’t saw the gameplay but if is great i will be crazy for it ).
Kingdom Death: Monster ( Already waiting for it! is not fo everyone, you have to love art and be open minded ).
Dreadball ( Already have it, awesome please more! Also the ultimate matt is great for playing with family/many-friends using the kickoff rules ).
I like Zombie Dice, quick and easy and very fun to have a quick blast.
I love the shot of the weather at the beginning, a bit of rain and wind. It’s currently -12 C over here, snowing heavily and blowing a gale.
Twelve days of Christmas gift ideas for the non-gamer:
Boardgames are a great intro, so here are my top 3 recommends.
1.Settlers of Catan
2.Pandemic
3.X-Wing / Star Trek Attack Wing
I have never played an XCom game but I just bought it off steam after Lloyd mentioned the shooting and cup of tea aspect. I quit FPS games after I came to the realization that I don’t have hours and hours to become competent and was tired of the “corpse humping” and spawn raping.
Great show again, the snug is a great “studio location”.
Really looking forward to XLBS.
Yeah, I like your shows very much. They are a lot of fun.
X-wing is a very nice game and I like it very much. It is very cool to buy painted models and the Star-Wars-Universe is a very beautiful and fascinating peace of of fiction.
I’m looking forward to watch my first recent epsiode of XLBS as a backstager.
All the best,
Largrar
I would have to say Firefly, then Smallworld and its expansions.
Those board games look awesome. I have been wanting the Firefly game a while but didn’t realize there was a gears of war board game! That is super awesome.
The Myth game looks good too. Is that at all related to the old Myth video games?
Thanks for giving Viking Horde a plug Warren, I grew up in Hobart, where the KS is based, and know the employment situation in the state is very tragic. I’m glad to see an Australian based KS, especially one from Tasmania and hope it succeeds. it looks like a great game for my younger kids to learn about tabletop wargames.
A few years ago I convinced my wife to get me Space Crusade with all of the expansions. Best gaming gift ever.
I would recomend the horus heresy board game as a current release.
I have asked for a Forge World Fire Raptor.
G.
An Good AirBrush kit and Compressor with Tank
loving the xwing stuff, very tempted to give it a go!
X-wing is what got me into wargaming, friend of mine suggested it. Loving it!
X-wing is excellent although i’ve had trouble expanding from the basic set due to a lack of local players and frankly each extra ship is half of a warjack and i know which game i prefer so unfortunately its not out much… great game though and it being ready to play instantly is a great draw for me
The show is great and for Christmas it has to be Deadzone!
Really liked the show guys. The x wing stuff looks really good. I have the starter box myself. I also have the Star Trek one. Personally I am more of a star trek fan however the X wing game seems to be of a higher quality. Shame for me 🙁
X-Wing or Star Trek Attack Wing for Christmas…
Friends keep telling to get X wing so I’ve been dropping Wompa sized hints to my wife
I’m also sooo tempted by Deadzone. Liking the fire side though.
Wish list?
#1 – A summer house big enough for an 8×4 table, woodburner and beer cooler! No more clearing the table for dinner.
#2 – More cardboard KR Multicase storage for various armies etc. I have a number of these and want to be able to organise, store & load up the remaining GW, Bushido, Mercs and whatever new miniatures (Carnevale/Malifaux, Myth and Brimstone?) I get in the future
#3 – One of the following board games: Small World, Pandemic, Ticket to Ride.
Its such a great time to be a gamer, there is so much cool stuff out or on the way its hard. Heres is my Idea for some ultimate gifts and just some cool gift ideas
Badger Airbrush, compressor and complete set of minataire paints
Ultramarine complete chapter(for those with big budgets)
Dreamforge Leviathan Mortis or Crusader
Citadel complete paint set
Horus Heresy Books 1 and 2
X-wing
Sails of glory
Robotech RPG tactics(if it makes it out before christmas)
Dropzone Commander Starter box
One of the GW Battleboard with terrain bundles
Arkham Horror complete collection
Star Trek Attack wing
Mansions of Madness complete collection
PP Level 7 Omega Protocol
Zombie Dice Deluxe edition
Zombicide Complete collection
I forgot one of the best gift ideas,
A 1 year subscription to Beasts of War Backstage.
I have asked for the Flames of War starter box and am desperately hoping it turns up under the tree 🙂 That will then give me a good reason to watch all through the first season again!
think X-wing for Christmas (or SAGA for the historically-inclined)
Descent!
woohoo winner!!
Xcom is a great game not played it online mind you just steamed through the normal game with a sniper team with a 95% chance of hitting!
12 most wanted, jesus thats hard I’ll have a long think about that one!
The 12 games of Xmas for me, and an honourable mention.
Honourable mentions: Kickstarter anything as fantastic as this is and for all the juggernaut that KS has become in the gaming world its still a little like gambling, and that doesnt sit well as a present for me.
Tails of the Arabian Nights, its just to rare and hard to get hold of to seriously be on the top twelve, but it is genuinely the most encompassing game for every player who it could be put in front of. For any gamer you have to play this game during your life.
Netrunner the starter box, its a year or so in to this LCG and as good as it is that’s a small investment on your behalf but a huge impact on their wallet to get up to date.
So here’s my 12:
12 Vouchers, find out what table top wargame they play and then don’t roll dice with your money, stick with vouchers its not imaginative but its not going to disappoint.
11 An airbrush, if your recipient paints miniatures, but has ever even mentioned the length of time it takes this is an ideal gift (Badger make very nice airbrushes but go do some research).
10 Appropriate wargames terrain, again research; you may have to ask them the kinds of game they play, but as a gamer I can tell you no matter how much terrain I need, I’d still prefer to buy myself something for my army than a piece of terrain, so beautify their battlefield for them.
9 X-wing/Attack Wing starter boxes, everyone has a sci-fi fan in their family or friends and whichever your flavour they are a fantastic couple of hours.
8 A Game of Thrones the board game, Its Risk 2.0 with a theme that is so popular that you will have your non gamers interested at the mention of it.
7 Catacombs, its a dexterity game like Subbuteo, but its themed much more accordingly to people who will be interested in playing.
6 The Resistance (Avalon) any version of this game is good it doesn’t need as many players as werewolf and also sees all of its players playing. But it will certainly have all of its players talking and involved which is what you want around a table at Christmas, you never know you might get some of those people to come play more after Christmas too.
5 PS4/Xbox1, lets face it, they have just hit the market, we are gamers, who wouldn’t want one, they have to be on a list of things to buy for gamers.
4 Letters from Whitechapel, its likely that the gamer in your life has played Fury of Dracula, which is a fantastic game but is out of print and can easily become a farce, LfW however is back in print, and is a white knuckle ride of psychology and puzzle solving from turn 1 until the end.
3 Rex final days of an Empire, once upon a time there was a boardgame named Dune and it was one of the finest boardgames you could set your hands on, not in terms of print quality but in terms of gameplay, Rex is the same game re-skinned.
2 Mice and Mystics, Christmas with kids around, an evening game before bed of a magical story at a festive time.
1 Descent 2 Journeys in the Dark, lets face it this IS the dungeon crawling game to give to anyone.
There we have it, it’s a pretty boardgame heavy list but for all of the reasons already stated in the weekener, board games make perfect presents.
For me, the perfect game to encourage new players would be descent: journeys in the dark. Firstly it is a dungeon game, and who hasn’t heard of dungeons and dragons, so there is an immediate connection. Secondly all the rules are right there in front of the players in the form of the equipment cards and player cards. Thirdly it is a collaborative game, so your new players get to help each other to defeat you as the evil overlord player – and they will defeat you in the first game won’t they! That’s how you get players hooked – who wants to play a game again when they’ve just been thumped? Fourthly, it is a beautiful game, especially when the mini’s have been painted up.
Lastly it is great fun. Lots of talking, not much hanging about. Well balanced scenarios and interesting gameplay. Yes there is a bit of ‘kill em all’. But the victory conditions are much more varied than that, and are easy to see right from the beginning of the scenario.
Go on, give it a go! You know you want to.
Am going to pick my own pressie from the family, as they will be otherwise giving me cash, which would be spent on a game anyway. This way I get it for Christmas morning.
It will be a board game
Nominations are (apart from growing)
Mice and Mystics
Pandemic expansions
Arkham Horror/ Eldritch Horror
and iirc
Defenders of the Realm
There are a couple of other on the list
Note it will be one of the above. I haven’t been that good of a boy lol
X-Wing game looks really nice, easy to pickup and putdown (time is always the biggest curse tabletop gamers with families). What’s your feeling on the larger ships (Falcon and Lambda) as well as the hint of even bigger ships coming in next year?
Probably Myth for me, of the three (four) things suggested. The dungeon crawl style boardgame is always hugely appealing. 🙂
X-wing definitely looks like a good Christmas gift!
massive fan of xcom, got both versions on the ps3, shame you guys dont have it on that system, but hey
given xcom by a freind only installing it now i have the same steam name
Whose idea was it to film on a F***ing freezing cold wind swept beach or costal spot in the first place??? String them up by their short and curlies! hahaha
Hey, teleport Justin’s brain……..? I’d like to see that! hahahahha….. (sorry Justin…… we love you really. chortle)