It was a mate’s birthday over the weekend (let’s call him WildMan), so after our chilly BBQ, we headed back to his place to down a few brews and Aliens.
Mr.Z! And another mate (TRex) joined us for the night.
WildMan dragged out a board game, Space Crusade, which I have never played before, but it’s basically the same concept as Space Hulk.
Round 1.
Mr.Z! already had an advantage as his rank and medals had carried over from an earlier game night, the other two of us were unranked and unknowing.
WildMan was the Alien hive mind and right from the beginning he was out for blood.
I had an ability that let me check out the blips on the map, so I knew just what was going to wipe my mates, and knew which way to run.
WildMan took one of TRex’s heavy dudes out straight away, and the over enthusiastic Mr.Z! Was soon surrounded by a horde of Aliens and the end boss itself.
What followed was RNG hell for Mr.Z!
Miss…
After miss…
After miss…
It was like watching a Prot warrior take on a mob. Sure no one took any damage, but then no one dealt any either.
Mr. Z!’s only bright spot being his one lowly surviving marine that kited the Alien masses around the board while WildMan suffered his own RNG nightmares.
Gnomeaggedon: 1
Everyone else: 0
Round 2.
Upgrades are handed about, including a promotion of my Commander.
My upgraded Commander and marines went on to wipe the board clean in the 2nd game.
Once again I knew where the end boss was right from my 1st move. This time though I jumped quadrants for a few easy kills 1st.
WildMan was going to have none of that though and immediately sent the entire quadrants forces against me, which should have spelt my doom.
Instead, even forgetting to play my 2x attack wild card, I one shot all of the quadrants forces, with only 1/2 my troops.
This left my commander free to go chase after the boss.
Luckily for me, TRex was already engaged with the boss, and had already inflicted enough damage for me to swoop in for the easy kill.
WildMan threw up a few more scalps for me to collect, then quiet descended on the room while we totaled our kills.
It took me a while to add up all the points, I always loose count once I get past 100…
Gnomeaggedon: 2
The Other Suckers: 0
Rules, what rules?
It had been a long time since I played a dice/board game, but boy I loved it.
One of the things I had missed was the interpretation (bending) of the rules that comes with these games.
Another was the game of convince the game-master.
Not to mention the “shaft you teammates” aspect of the game.
End of the night and I was higher ranked than Mr.Z!
Not that I want to brag, or rub it in or anything…
If you are interested in finding out more about either game, check out these links for information, or download of the PC versions… although they are pretty old now, so may not function as intended.
Space Crusade PC Game (download)
Space Hulk (video game) download
Gnomer and Out!
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http://gnomeaggedon.net/2009/06/03/space-crusade/
Hmmm think I better stick to Yahtzee or Scrabble. Your games are way beyond my little brain hehehe.
lol Cathy… nothing difficult about Space Crusade…
Which is one of it’s “party game plus points”.
TRex isn’t a big game player, and tends to forget rules by the time you have finished each rule description.
It’s an uncomplicated fat paced game..
Lots of fun
Looks like awesome fun – thats a perfect way to stomp with mates. You have to love a good board game. Have you tried the RoboRally game?
I forget how much I love them… drag my feet in the door, then get down to it and can’t get enough…
The biggest problem is waiting for your turn…
I think I tried to have my turn after each other players the other night… whoops.
Haven’t heard of RoboRally, but I will mention it to our board game master… WildMan
and I thought I was a massive nerd
you put me to shame.
Nerd?
Who Me?
Next you will accuse me of playing D&D…
Space Hulk (first edition) is an awesome board game.
The second edition was rubbish; they took out all the rules and simplified it so much that it took all the fun out of it; at least the tiles were useful.
I used to play Space Crusade on the Amiga with a friend of mine; it was good fun though very frustrating, for example, random event in the first turn: You are out of ammo!
Yes, the heavy weapon you spent your points on and is the main crux of your squad has no ammo before you have even fired a shot! Good programming there!
I am really struggling to remember if I have actually played Space Crusade before. I know I had the Space Hulk PC game, and I was sure it was a different name to the board game… but then, that was a long time ago…
Ohhh Space Crusade computer game sounds full of fail…
The Space Hulk one was awesome… seriously scared the living daylights out of me. In fact it was one of 3 PC games I legitimately purchased before WoW.
it was great fun… but I dare say that on today’s PC’s it would suffer like so many other old games by being “overpowered” (new machine too fast for old game)
Well, I know saying try the WoW board game and TCG to a bunch of people who can actually log in and play the online version seems a bit silly. But both are very fun and involve many people. TCG is much simpler and games go much faster, if you’re going to try the WoW board game, prepare for the long haul. Our first game took over 9 hours!! We’ve trimmed it down to about 6 now that we understand the rules.
If you hate RNG in the WoW, you’ll really hate them after you throw your dice in the board game. “What do you mean I threw 10 dice and didn’t get a single 4 or better?!?” Those board games at least have less strain on the eyes. Sounds like fun!
lol… sounds like the luck Mr Z. was having the other night… but then WildMan was having similar RNG joy.
I on the otherhand couldn’t miss…
RNG’s.. gotta love them… unless you don’t
This brings back memories. Space Hulk, and Space Crusade
I also remember playing a Space Hulk Video game on the Sega Genesis. Man that was an awesome game back in the day.
Wait I ain’t that old….really I’m not.
Yeah.. loved the electronic version… enough that I paid real money for a cardboard box with a couple of floppys
One of the things I had missed was the interpretation (bending) of the rules that comes with these games.
My favorite quote of the post
lol yeah some of my best game playing moments are when the rule book goes out the window…
I remember this time playing D&D…. damn, nearly admitted to Zupa that i played…
Funnily enough, I have always enjoyed helping out the GM/DM. I guess maybe because I was one for so long, and know how sometimes you can get caught up in the reading/dice rolling…
There is nothing better than helping to point the GM to a new, more deserving target (than myself)
LOL
Whilst googling space crusade i stumbled across this blog entry, about some guy with a remarkably similar name to me hosting a space crusade game, so i got curious and checked it out, only to discover it was in fact me.
Yes, gnomer is a friend of mine from way back.
Bravo! I was delighted to read the often amusing review of the evenings fun. I didn’t realise you enjoyed yourself so much, its been a coupla months since then, will have to organise another sortie into the space hulk.
Board games are fast becoming a lost pleasure. Before computers they were one of the few ways to share a multiplayer experience, apart from DnD.
Anyone ever played Talisman? well i was googling them too, and did you know there is now a Talisman mmo? i kid you not.. its pretty lowkey graphics, and was about to try it out, but after looking at the gameplay, its just not the same as the boardgame. Its more rpg orientated, with quests and stuff like wow. I might try it one day, but atm i think it deters from the fun of having played the original.
[...] hey, How about the Wildman stumbling across my post about Space Crusade! True to his word, he has scheduled another night… I may not make it, but you got to love his [...]
is there any way to play online without downloading as ive got no admin rightts to downloadd on this laptop
No idea and it’s been such a long time since I played the game. From memory it was dos based…
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