My recent LCG gaming

I have not been completely idle lately in actually breaking my games out, and figured I'd post about my recent games.

Let's go over my recent games by game.

Android: Netrunner
I've managed to get quite a few games of this in recently, all against Rob.  In the past few weeks, we've played a total of 7 games, 5 of them with me running a Criminal deck against Rob's various Jinteki builds, and 2 of them with me running Haas-Bioroid against Rob's Anarch deck.

I'm not completely familiar with the cards in the game, although I'm getting better, so I definitely walked into quite a few traps when playing against the Jinteki decks.  Overall, I didn't fare too horribly (I went 2-3), and I tended to win in landslides, or lose by net damage.  I've started to get better about protecting myself from the net damage, however.  It's hard to be patient as Criminals, but sometimes you can't afford to run when you don't have cards in your hand to suffer the backlash!

With the Corporation decks, I'm doing pretty well (2-0 against Rob's Anarch deck).  Both our games took quite a bit of time, as I tend to build up slowly, but they both ended about the same way.  Rob ran, figured he had a good setup, and I ended up rezzing either Archer or Janus 1.0, which he couldn't deal with at the time, and set him back so far that he couldn't recover.

Since Netrunner was released, my overall record has been 3-3 with the Runner, and 3-0 with the Corporation.  Not too terrible a start, but I really wish I could play more!

Game of Thrones:
Played two games against Rob.  Both times I took my Greyjoy Kings of Winter choke deck, which I'm trying to get the hang of.  The first game, Rob took a basic Stark Tully based deck that he hadn't updated in a while (no House of Dreams'd Riverrun?) and destroyed me.  He got three power on The Blackfish quickly, with a dupe on him, and I couldn't do anything to slow him down.  End score was 15-0.

Second game, I took the same deck against Rob's Lannister clansmen deck.  This one went much better for me, and I took a 15-0 win, as I managed to basically keep Rob's income low enough to prevent him from playing anything.

So... two games in, and I really couldn't tell you how good my deck was.  A lot of it is likely just my inexperience running such a deck, and I haven't really done any tuning to it yet.  If I could play it more, I probably could improve it though.

Star Wars
I've played two more games of this recently, again against Rob.  Played once as the Light Side, and once as the Dark Side, and both times ended up being absolutely crushed.  I mean, it wasn't even close.

I'm not sure what it is about this game.  I really love the mechanics, and the game as a whole seems to have a LOT of promise.  I just don't seem to 'get' it.  The overall flow of the game is just off for me.  I'm pretty sure I didn't win a single battle, nor a single edge battle, in either of these games.  For now, I'm not really sure what I can do to rectify this either.  My thinking is that I may just take all the cards, build the starter sets out of the box, and just keep playing against myself until I get a good feel for when I should attack, when I should defend, and so on.  There's some basic tactical step I'm missing here, and it's hard playing this until I figure it out.   I will though.  And with the great-looking upcoming expansions, I really want to do so quickly.

Warhammer: Invasion
I've only managed to get a single game of this in.  I've been trying to get it seen at the local game store (Games and Stuff), and managed to rope Rob into a game.  I let him use a copy of the High Elf deck that won the world championship (basically a combo deck that uses Eltharion the Grim to end the game), and I took a basic Orc Rush deck that I had built, with the goal of at least letting Rob get a feel for the game, and playing a deck which had a style that I thought closely matched his.

As you can imagine, I got crushed, which wasn't unexpected.  Still, it was a good time, and I did learn quite a bit from the game.  I don't know what I could do with Orcs to make the game any closer (aside from waiting for errata from FFG for a few cards), but even so, I think that with other decks, I might be able to stand a chance.  And hey, I managed to get a few people to see the Warhammer was a game that was played, so next time I have a Thursday free, I'll head over there, and maybe get some games in!

Various happenings from FFG

Man, lots going on from FFG lately, thankfully for all their games.


Call of Cthulhu has a preview of 'The Key and the Gate' expansion, covering primarily Yog-Sothoth.  However, they decided to use the article to focus on a specific card from the expansion, The Festival.

To be honest, I'm probably nowhere near the level of skill I'd need to tackle building a deck around this, but I would love to try to use this to power a deck.  Maybe some sort of Zoog deck (of course, I'd have to work to get the Dreamlands cycle, but that's beside the point).  Maybe try to use Servant from Out of Time to get the cards I want into the discard pile?  I'm not sure, but it would sure be a fun one to try.

Game of Thrones, after quite a delay, released their next Chapter Pack, Reach of the Kraken, introducing the new naval enhancement!  Of course, it's way too early to see how it'll influence the game, but with the included agenda, Black Sails, has a lot of potential that won't be realized for several more releases.  Still, you could fit what, four characters with naval enhancements (including the one neutral character) into a Greyjoy deck for now, so it's possible to get a start.  Another chapter pack release is probably needed before I even try building such a deck though.

The first deluxe expansion for Star Wars, Edge of Darkness, was announced.  Twenty Two new objective sets, eleven for each side make up this expansion which should turn the Scum and Villainy and Smugglers and Spies into fully functional factions.  Admittedly, I'm a little disappointed that I'll have to purchase two copies of the expansion to have a full playset, but overall I'm happy that they're including a lot of different options for the two factions.  Overall, I'll be happy to see it released.  As I'll mention in my next post, I'm not exactly good at Star Wars- I really just don't get the flow of the game very well, but even so, I genuinely enjoy the system, and I really love the cards.  One day, I imagine I'll get better as well.  I like that the capture theme is being strongly supported in this expansion as well.  Really fits the theme, if you ask me.

Lord of the Rings has an article discussing the deck lists from the next Lord of the Rings Saga Expansion (on the doorstep).  They also cover a few more of the cards in the set.  Lord of the Rings is probably the game I play the least these days, but hey, it's still a pretty cool article.

Finally the announcement of the next deluxe expansion for Warhammer: Invasion.  Titled Cataclysm, it finally provides support to the game for more than two players!  Fantastic news, not only is this something that the game really needed, but it's something that seems to be implemented in a unique and fun manner (having to fight over certain location equivalents).  They are also moving Warhammer over to the deluxe expansion distribution method that Call of Cthulhu has.  I'm a little sad to see this happen, but overall, it's probably a good move for the game.  This way, there will be fewer releases, each of which will have a lot more cards.  Although I'm loving the most recent set of Battle Packs, I am a little impatient to see what other options are available for the Raider and Ambush keywords, which are important parts of several cards.  If this was released as a Deluxe Expansion, I'd be able to have a lot more options earlier.  Definitely would be a bonus.

New Warhammer: Invasion Podcast

I haven't done a good job of mentioning podcasts when they are created, but I will be trying to, from now on.

There's a new Warhammer:Invasion podcast out there: WINVASION.  I don't know that there's every been a Warhammer podcast, making it the only game without one, so I'm really excited to see it in action, and can't wait to hear some episodes!

Battle for the Old World Spoilers (Warhammer: Invasion)

Wurrzag
Unique Orc Legend
3 Cost (2 Loyalty)
1 Power Kingdom/Quest, 2 Power Battlefield
3 Hit Points
Forced: When this legend enters play, you must burn 3 zones instead of 2 in order to win for the rest of the game.
Action: When this legend attacks, play a non-Epic Spell Orc tactic from your hand for free.

Da Great Waaagh!
Unique Orc Quest
0 Cost (3 Loyalty) 
Mission
Play in any opponent's zone under your control.
When you assign combat damage to this zone, you may place any number of that combat damage on this quest instead.
Forced: When the 3rd damage token is placed here, sacrifice this quest to gain an additional battlefield phase this turn after the current battlefield phase.

Mob O' Hutz
Orc Support
1 Cost (1 Loyalty)
1 Power
Building
If you control a non-Orc card, sacrifice this card.

Ded Scary Boy
Orc Unit
3 Cost (1 Loyalty)
1 Power
3 Hit Points
Berserker
Orc only.  Ambush 2.
Action: When this unit ambushes, it takes 1 damage.  Then, units with no damage lose 2 Power until the end of the phase.

Iron Defenders
Dwarf Unit
2 Cost (1 Loyalty)
1 Power
2 Hit Points
Warrior.
Dwarf only.  Ambush 1.
Action: When this unit ambushes, it gains Toughness 2 until the end of the phase.

Dead-Eye Cannon Crew
Dwarf Unit
5 Cost (2 Loyalty)
3 Power
4 Hit Points
War Machine.
Battlefield only.
Action: When this unit attacks, sacrifice X developments to destroy target non-Attachment support card in the attacked zone.  X is the support card's cost.

Reiksguard Elite
Empire Unit
3 Cost (2 Loyalty)
2 Power
1 Hit Point
Elite. Knight.
Battlefield only.
This unit gains +1 hit point for every experience attached to it.
Action: When this unit attacks or defends, attach 1 experience to it.

Devoted to Taal
Empire Tactic
0 Cost (1 Loyalty)
Action: Take target experience attached to a unit or legend you control into your hand.  Then, attach this card facedown to that unit or legend as an experience.

Chapterhouse Stables
Empire Support
3 Cost (1 Loyalty)
1 Power
Building
Lower the cost of the first Knight unit you play each turn by 1.

Lilea
Unique High Elf Unit
4 Cost (2 Loyalty)
2 Power
3 Hit Points
Elite. Ranger.
Action: When this unit attacks, put 1 resource token on it.  Then, deal X indirect damage to target opponent.  X is the number of resource tokens on this unit.

Nagarythe Warrior
High Elf Unit
4 Cost (2 Loyalty)
2 Power
3 Hit Points
Elite. Ranger.
High Elf only.  Ambush 2.
Action: When this unit ambushes, deal 1 damage to each damaged unit.

Hidden Outpost
High Elf Support
3 Cost (1 Support)
1 Power
Fortification
Lower the Ambush cost of the first card you ambush each turn by 1.

Norse Clansman
Chaos Unit
3 Cost (1 Loyalty)
1 Power
3 Hit Points
Berserker
Forced: When this unit is opposed in combat, discard the top card of your deck.  If the discarded card is a unit, deal 1 uncancellable damage to target attacking or defending unit.

Power of Chaos
Chaos Tactic
0 Cost (5 Loyalty)
Spell.
Action: Until the end of the turn, you may play any number of Limited cards. (Paying all costs)

Summoning Tower
Chaos Support
2 Cost (2 Loyalty)
1 Power
Fortification
Action: When this zone is attacked, sacrifice a unit in this zone to put a Chaos unit of equal or lower cost into play from your hand into this zone.

Slave Hunter
Dark Elf Unit
3 Cost (1 Loyalty)
1 Power
2 Hit Points
Elite.
Action: When this unit survives an attack on an opponent's zone, sacrifice it to take control of target non-unique unit in that zone.  Move that unit to your corresponding zone.

Captured Mind
Dark Elf Tactic
1 Cost (3 Loyalty)
Hex.
Action: Examine target opponent's hand.  Then, you may play a unit from that opponent's hand (paying its printed cost but ignoring its loyalty) into any of your eligible zones under your control.

Hag Graef Mine
Dark Elf Support
3 Cost (1 Loyalty)
1 Power
Building
Action: Corrupt a unit you control but do not own to (choose one): draw X cards, or gain X resources.  X is that unit's loyalty.

Pegasus Knight
Neutral Unit
4 Cost
2 Power
4 Hit Points
Bretonnian. Knight.
Order only.  Battlefield only.
Action: When you declare attackers, you may declare this unit as an attacker against a different zone.

Bonegrinder Giant
Neutral Unit
5 Cost
3 Power
4 Hit Points
Giant.
Destruction only. Battlefield only.
While this unit is attacking alone, you may assign damage to your opponent's capital before assigning damage to defending units.

Battle for the Old World Contents (Warhammer:Invasion)

41 Wurrzag (x3)
42 Da Great Waaagh! (x3)
43 Mob O' Hutz (x3)
44 Ded Scary Boy (x3)
45 Iron Defenders (x3)
46 Dead-Eye Cannon Crew (x3)
47 Reiksguard Elite (x3)
48 Devoted to Taal (x3)
49 Chapterhouse Stables (x3)
50 Lilea (x3)
51 Nagarythe Warrior (x3)
52 Hidden Outpost (x3)
53 Norse Clansman (x3)
54 Power of Chaos (x3)
55 Summoning Tower (x3)
56 Slave Hunter (x3)
57 Captured Mind (x3)
58 Hag Graef Mine (x3)
59 Pegasus Knight (x3)
60 Bonegrinder Giant (x3)

What else is out there that might count as an LCG?

So, at the moment, FFG produces 6 great LCGs, but like any gamer, I always want more.

So naturally, the question is- what else is available?

Well, what sort of things do I want in a card game?  Deck-building is a major key.  Heck, half the work you do in getting better as a player is in designing new, awesome decks.  Of course, the second part of that is drawing- the randomization (and optimization) of what comes off the top of your deck is fairly important, at least to me.  Finally, card games can eventually become stale without expansions.  I feel like occasional (doesn't have to be monthly) expansions to the game really add a lot to the game, by creating a steadily shifting meta.  You'll have to regularly go back and adjust your deck to handle the new environment you're playing in.

Of course, the better the rules, the better the game, but without these things in some way, it's hard to count the game as an LCG.

So, the question from before.  What else is available?

The first game I thought of was Frontline General: Spearpoint.  In this one, you have deckbuilding- you have a number of points you're allowed to spend on your deck, and you construct it using those points.  The issue is that the decks are mutually exclusive.  If you have a German deck, you build with only the German cards.  Same with the American cards. You do have good draw rules, and the game itself is fantastic (and I have some posts on my Cardboard Warriors blog about it), but it also doesn't have very frequent expansions, and some of the 'expansions' aren't compatible with the base game (the 1987 expansion in the future, for instance).  Good game, but not really LCG material.

Mage Wars is another interesting one, and it's one that cardgamedb has started supporting.  You have deck building (I believe based off a points system as well, although I'm not sure).  You have what could be yearly expansions (depending on what the company decides to do).  I've never played the game, but it's got a heavy boardgame component (you move cards around a board, as I understand it).  There is no card draw, again, as I understand it- you'll choose two cards from your deck each turn.  I'm interested in playing this, but the jury is still out for me on whether this would be an LCG or just a card-based boardgame.

PURGE: Sins of Science was a recent successful Kickstarter campaign and one that caught my interest, but I didn't back because, well, I'm poor.  It had deckbuilding, it had expansions (at least a few), but apparently the card draw was a little different, but I'm not sure how.  This may qualify, but we'll see how it goes before I really try picking it up.  I hear the rulebook is a mess, for example.

Elemental Clash is another one that has potential.  Deck building, desire for future expansions, it looks like it could be good.  I've heard it described as a mix between super-simple Magic the Gathering, Call of Cthulhu, and Battletech, but primarily Magic in mechanics.  To me, that's not a big deal- I really enjoyed Magic, and would continue to play if it wasn't for the random boosters.  I worry that the game will be TOO simple, but I'll wait and see- maybe the expansions will add some additional complexity to the game.

I've also heard Shadowfist is moving to this format, which is supposed to start this upcoming year (although I see you can get the starter now?), which will certainly bear investigation, especially as they seem to be slowly reprinting cards from the CCG era into the expansions.

So, anyone else have any ideas for games, either currently out or in the future, that might be LCG-like?

Finally broke out Star Wars...

... and gotta say, I really loved it.

I was concerned that the game didn't 'feel' like Star Wars, that the quick movement from your deck would make the individual cards less important, and frankly, that I might not like the mechanics, but after one game, I don't have nearly the same level of concern.

Of course, that's after only one game, so who knows how I will feel after more games, but man, I'm certainly excited to keep trying.

On a side note, I played by finally going to LCG night at Games and Stuff in Glen Burnie, which is every Thursday.  It was pretty cool, and gets a good sized crowd.  They were mostly playing Star Wars (although Rob got into a game of Call of Cthulhu with one of the guys there).  I brought my Warhammer: Invasion cards in the hopes that someone would randomly ask about it... no luck though.  Assuming I can go semi-regularly (and I hope to), I'll keep at it!