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We LOVE boardgames like Brass: Birmingham, Gloomhaven, Terraforming Mars, and SO many others! We would like to share our passion with YOU, but we know you can find many board game review channels out there. So instead, we want to talk about our FAVORITE games, provide Strategy TIPS, and just have a lot of FUN. Join us!
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Video Graphics created and edited by James. Layouts presented by Lynda. Logo designs made by Nova. Music and SFX: Audiio Pro - audiio.com. Background Photo: Globular Cluster 47 Tucanae - NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration. Acknowledgment: J. Mack (STScI) and G. Piotto (University of Padova, Italy) - hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/2015/16/3545-Image.html.
I was surprised by how funny, easy and well explained this video is. Hopefully you will make more videos about dune imperium Uprising. I really loved it!
I'm assuming you're talking about the beginning of the third example at about 9:44. If so, the text of Ancient Whiskered Lung Dragon contains a when-played ability that says pay one and gain 3 movements on the dragon guild. I wonder if you are watching on a phone and can't read the text. If so, sorry about that. If you have a bigger screen, it's easier.
I bought Wyrmspan the other day on a whim because I liked the artwork on the box. I played against my fiancée, who usually hates board games and surprisingly she liked it very much. Well, she crushed me. Your video was the first to pop up when I searched for "wyrmspan strategy" and I'm glad I found it because not only is your advice useful, the cinematography is way better than what one would expect from a channel your size. You more than earned a subscription!
This was a fantastic video and one of the most informative and straight to the point game strategy explainers I've ever watched. Keep up the amazing work!!!
Thanks for doing this. I am a digger so i sub as a result. Out of curiosity, and given what you are saying in the video, do you think that Apiary has a long staying power ? I mean, what about the willing to play it in the long run kowning that you will have to have in mind '5 VP per turn; 20 to 25 turns; 100 VP' ? Many thanks again.
The strategy doesn't really ruin this game, because the game really lives in the tactical details. My views on Brass Birmingham aren't that different in some ways, but I love the tactical fist fight that breaks out once everyone knows what to do. As for staying power long term ... It's hard for any game to get lasting traction now, because there are so many games fighting for attention. If this had launched in 2016, it would be an acknowledged classic. Today, we'll just have to wait and see.
The association worker reward early on for 2 conservation points seems like a noob trap because it permanently locks you out of the 4th upgrade for the action cards.
I agree, I don't like it either. Not to mention, you can get an association worker with your first conservation project on most maps, so why waste the chance to upgrade a card at 2 conservation points.
Thanks for sharing your Wyrmspan strategies! As someone who was present during much of the design and development process, I can say that similar to your videos on Apiary, you capture a lot of the considerations and math that Connie had in designing the game. Obviously people compare this game to Wingspan most frequently, but for people that have played Apiary they should be able to pick up on some similar themes: a focus on assembling combinations and tactical decisions that vary from game to game.
Thank you, that means a lot coming from you. I'm a huge fan of Connie's work, and I can see her fingerprints on this game. It also brings forward many ideas and the positive/friendly vibe of Wingspan.
I watched your Ark Nova content when it was released! (Love the content btw) been missing your videos so I would vote for Earth first and then Hegemony when you get more into it as I picked up both titles last year and enjoy both games deeply but haven’t played either super extensively yet. Thanks
Thanks for the ideas. I'll drop the Wyrmspan video tomorrow. After that I'm looking at a bunch of things. I like all the games you mention. So many games, so little time.
Great job covering these! Glad you matched the factions to the honeybee subspecies. For any curious viewers, the Visah faction are modeled after "VSH", or "Varroa sensitive hygiene", which is a trait studied by the US Department of Agriculture that they may breed for because it can make the bees more resistant to mite infestations.
Your videos are great. It's so rare to find a channel that talks about deep strategy of games that goes beyond just the begginers and intermediate levels. I really enjoy your work, can't wait to see what's next
Great video thanks for posting! I love how there's not just one strategy that's stronger than the others. I kept pausing the video to look at the cards and tiles you had laid out which was super useful.
I can agree with most points, but calling meteorites faster then quests is a hottake. Like south quests are open an easy to solve or if you get a chance to get the same location for quest twice you can solce rest solve (or quests on rest location). Also to score high with meteorites you need preparation, sure some like "per orange corruption" are easier but cards like "per color card" are more difficult to score consistent. And you need to meld each and every meteorite with at least 2 to get the same points as 3 quests. I wrote a thread on bgg about the scoring potential of the 3 types, with minimum, normal maximum and absolute maximum (with specific high value cards). Also a question: hiw fast do you win normally? I play mostly solo so it's hard to compare with multiplayer but end the game with 23 -28 turns.
Since you are mostly a solo player, I'll try to answer your timing question in reference to solo. When I was preparing the video I played the solo mode about 10 times on all but the highest difficulty and I never lost. I didn't play the highest difficulty, so I won't say I'd win, but on the second highest difficulty I felt that the game was getting so short that it lost relevance to multiplayer games, which is my primary interest. The solo mode is good, and I used it to test ideas developed over 20+ games at other player counts including several games at each player count. My win rate is significantly higher in solo mode than it is against opponents. As I say in the video, this is beginner strategy. I'm certain that a beginner that follows the approach outlined will have a decent win rate against all but the best players, and that's my goal. In that regard, I developed an approach that didn't require particularly good card draws or any special tactical genius. These considerations guide some of my advice. You can meld 3 meteorites in 2 turns. You can't solve 3 quests in 3 turns. All the same, one should opportunistically solve 2-3 quests late in the game. The point is to sneak them in between meld turns or upgrade turns. Those quest turns actually provide the power and guile that enables you to keep vanquishing. I almost never score the quest glory category because I end the game before that happens. I definitely see people scoring 20+ points on meteorites on a regular basis. The key is that your first meteorite must score 3(occasionally 4) points 4 times. You're right, of course, you don't meld meteorites at random, and you don't score them in the fist half of the game. In scoring the cards goal, you have enough time to build up 2 decent meteorite scoring opportunities. I regularly see people scoring very little on their last two meteorites, but that's fine if the first two (which re-score each time you meld) are decent.
There is a card that lets you rescue another card and activate its ability. I had two same number quests and used this to solve both on the same turn. Don’t put your quests hopes on it but it can be done.
How about a video on Tapestry after the recent rebalancing release? Your list of possibilities is great. Maybe add Architects of the West Kingdom, Anachrony, and Barrage? Really enjoying your insights and style.
Thanks! Architects of the West Kingdom and Anachrony could work, particularly AotWK. Barrage bounced off my play group. For the right group, it's a good game, but I never got enough plays to have a worthwhile opinion about it.
@@AaronRauth Brass Birmingham's really not so bad once you get into it. If anything, the rules are less complicated than a lot of other games. The only tricky bit is remembering the connection rules for coal, iron and beer. To be fair, the 'in-network' placement rules also throw new players sometimes.
Cards first, workers second. I think it's a good idea to spend at least the first 5 turns, maybe up to 8 or even 10, depending on the situation, in the southern row. The center row gather actions are fairly weak because you can always choose just 1, and I don't think rushing map tokens is worth it. In that time you will build up some power, guile, cards and workers. Move to the 2nd row when you have a good chance to be able to Vanquish with your companion.
It's definitely workable. I've played (and seen others play) both ways, and players who explored seemed to have a higher win rate, but that's somewhat anecdotal. In certain situations (say if I'm playing Olga/Changa), I might prefer your approach.
Yeah I probably spend too much time on these things. The biggest time sink is probably playing the game ~30 times and writing the script. You can be sure I don't do this with games I don't like playing.
Hi James! I came across your channel via the video you did with Jamey from Stonemaier. I'm the husband of Connie Vogelmann, the designer of Apiary. This is an excellent video, and you do a thorough dive into what the game has to offer. I appreciate you recognizing and sharing a lot of the ideas that Connie spent a lot of time and effort to design into the game. Oh just one editing note: when you show the development tiles around 2:24, it says they cost "wax" instead of "pollen" in the text.
Wow, thanks for stopping by! We'll edit the caption as you suggested. I really appreciate the support you've given the game on BGG. It's a huge help to get definitive answers to questions as they come up. I haven't had a chance to interact with Connie, but I hope you'll tell her it's a cool game in my book.
Well tell the Mrs that she designed an excellent game. I am really enjoying it. I view board games as the perfect art form. They have nice art and are tactile but most importantly they have directions from the designer on how to enjoy them. Sure you can look at and enjoy a Picasso or Pollack but the view has to make assumptions about meaning.
This video helped me enjoy the game a lot. I think I was trying to play the game in a way that didn't make sense and your video help remove that frustration! Thank you!
@@SpiderForgeGAMESI was really focused on Quests and I keep losing and wasn't having fun. After shifting my attention to other things, now I do better, have more fun and I do questing organically! All your videos are top notch!
They didn't pay me anything, if that's what you mean. If anyone ever wants to pay me, I don't promise to tell them no, but I'll disclose it. Realistically, my channel isn't big enough for that sort of deal.
I would rather have a starting hand with 0 animals than a starting hand with 8 animals. The more you play, the more you will understand that sponsors are the best cards in the game and can carry a player to victory all by themselves.
@@malcolm-chrisbikoumou972 The sponsors in the expansion seem to be quite a lot better on average, which has changed things. Without the expansion, I definitely want some animals. Of course, it depends strongly on which animals and which sponsors.
Really like Expeditions and your strategy suggestions are spot on. It was a surprise to me when I first got it, how interesting the puzzle would be. I like the solo game as well. It’s easy to setup and play and allows you to practice various strategies. For the expansion I would like to see two things: A standard way people can put to use the map tokens (perhaps a turn in spot?). And I think players who are 3rd to 5th in starting order should get some minor benefit. That said, really like the game.
I couldn't agree more about the map tokens. In Scythe we have amazing narrative encounter cards. Maybe this game could have something like that either for the map tokens or to describe what you're vanquishing? Thanks for watching.
Nice video, thanks. I’m behind the curve on Dune, just moved on from the base game to adding rise of ix. Saving immortality and uprising for the future. The dreadnought seems so useful I’d say it’s worth getting for 3 solari as early as possible even if you can’t buy a tech tile. Makes it more difficult to chose what to spend solari on in the early game. Swordmaster vs council seat vs dreadnoughts. I think i prefer a council seat plus a dreadnought for 8 solari than a swordmaster then get a swordmaster after that if possible
I haven't played Uprising yet. I'm still decided whether to buy it or hope someone else will bring a copy over to play. I'd say Immortality gives you more options, but it doesn't improve the game as much as the Rise of IX. There are lots of different ways to play, of course. I wouldn't get a Swordmaster too late, though, because you'll need to use it several times to justify its cost in agent turns. Also, if you prefer a Council Seat, you might be looking toward TSMF. In that case, you might not want Swordmaster at all. I can understand the no-Swordmaster strategy, but I'm not sure about the get-Swordmaster-after strategy. But if you're winning... that's the real test. Best.
