The first planetary exploration continues in ISS Vanguard as we left off with a pesky turret that we needed to take care of. But just doing that isn’t where the adventure ends, but leads us into the next spot to launch off into the adventure and see what awaits us on this big mission and story we’ve been called out to space for. Now, how will it go, we don’t know, but certainly hope that we’re ready for what comes next.

You can catch up on part 1 here.

ISS Vanguard

Now that we’re done with the first planet we’ve experienced about half the game. I say about half the game, but I do expect the planet exploration is going to be the largest section of the game. We go out and explore and each planet is going to have something different and unique to explore. We might even come back to planets and explore them more quickly a second time.

The other part of the game which I really didn’t get into yet was the ship phase of the game. In the ship phase you do a number of things. Research new technology, travel to new planets, build or get new landers, heal up crew members, or deal with unrest or issues with the crew. It’s an interesting element to the game. It reminds me of how Tainted Grail has resource management in it, but this seems bigger but less punishing.

But that part of the game is going to be less. I play maybe two or three hours on a planet and then 30 to 45 minutes on the ship. That ratio is going to be around there somewhere, but I’m not sure where. I expect that it’ll be a lesser part of my journey though. And while it is impactful, it likely will have less of the overall story for the game.

I like how it is setup though. Instead of needing 10 sheets to keep track of it and marking and erasing everything, it is a book. Not just a book, though, it is a binder with card sleeves and other things in it. So the state is easy to save and you don’t need to worry about erasing through the paper or not getting everything cleared.

Upcoming Streams

So next Wednesday at 8 PM Central time I am going to be playing more ISS Vanguard. That is going to be the game of choice for at least another eight weeks, and it might be longer. There are too many campaign games so I want to get to them as they come in. But if I really am enjoying ISS Vanguard, which I am so far, I might not want to quit.

Then my other streaming day is at 8:30 PM on Monday, again central time. But join me then for random board games, and I might even start to mix in some painting. I have an idea for next week that I want to play Planet Unknown. So expect to see what as next weeks streaming game. It’s one that I have played a few times now and I want to play more and see how it goes solo.

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