ISS Vanguard

Let’s touch on a topic that I talked about at the end. Is this a good solo game?

My answer is yes, I do think that this is a good solo board game. But I suspect that it might be a better with more players. There are a few reasons for it, mainly surrounding the idea that it’s a pretty big concept game and story. So I think that more minds keeping track of everything will hold the story better.

I also wonder about controlling more things. This reminds me a bit of Tainted Grail or Gloomhaven. I think both are good solo, but I prefer them multiplayer. Why, because there is just enough upkeep that it helps to have more people. Running the ship book, dealing with the planets, all of those things will be slightly easier with more people.

The difference with that is how supplies are used up on the ships. You play with more total dice in play so you can split up and get more done faster that way. But to travel distances, that spends dice and requires refreshing of dice. There are ways around it, but I think you’d get more done, but might have less ability to all swarm locations, if that makes sense.

So, ISS Vanguard is a game I would consider playing with four people. Not always the case with campaign games. I also would play three or two player and probably play two handed if we had two to make sure all four characters are in use. It’d change the same some, but I think in a good way.

Upcoming Streams

So next Wednesday that is going ot be up in the air. I potentially will be starting Isofarian Guard, that’s likely my next campaign game. But there is also a strong chance I won’t have a chance to learn the rules yet for Isofarian Guard over this weekend. If that’s the case, it might be the time where I actually open up the Pokemon cards. Or I might be playing a game, I’ll try and get that figured out by the time I stream on Monday.

And Monday is going to be more My City Roll and Build, and yes I did mess up my scoring at the end there. But I’ll be playing more of that. It’ll be continuing where we left off. And I’m excited to play My City Roll and Build. So join me on Malts and Meeples at 8:30 PM Central time for that gaming.

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ISS Vanguard vs Stars of Akarios

Going down to, or not going down to a planet. Let’s talk about how it went going down to a planet this time. And in all fairness we knew that it wasn’t likely that we’d be able to do much. It tells you that much as you are planning. But it is an interesting twist on the game.

Not A Planet

Firstly, it’s clearly a way to block off content. It gives you stuff to do over there. And I’ll be spending energy to get some of those done next time. But it basically says, this content is meant for when you are playing further in the game. So even though you tried to get to it now, you won’t be able to. But it does in a way that is thematic to the game. There is a storyline reason as to why not.

Ship Phase

And I think that is smart. Now it’s interesting because I just wrapped up a ship phase. And I did a lot in the ship phase to show off what can happen. That said, now I get to go back and do it again. I think for some people that is going to be disappointing. The ship phase, which I flew through this last session, doesn’t have as much story. So is it worth it getting through it again.

There are some areas where I feel only like kind of. Can I recruit more crew, I’m not sure. I’ll probably see about doubling up and going back to some places again, if that is allowed. But I have four command tokens, so that is what I’d prefer to do. Maybe the situation room, but for sure research and production to see what we can find. Because completing research or a new production project is kind of the most interesting thing.

This, I think, is where having more players would be interesting for the game. Planetary exploration, sure, it’d be fun to share the story and decision making. But I feel like I know what I want to do and make that part go quicker because of that. On the flip side, when it comes to the ship. I think discussing with more people would make that part feel more important. It is important, but it’d make it feel more important which would lean into that bigger feeling of the game.

Upcoming Streams

Like I said, ISS Vanguard wraps up next week. The plan is to explore some of the other options in our system and see what happens. It’ll be a bit sad to put this down, but it’s now a game that I know I really want to share with other people. 8 PM Central Time on Wednesdays. Though the easiest way to know is by subscribing and clicking that notification bell to know when I put up something new.

And then on Mondays I stream at 8:30 PM normally. That is the goal, anyways, sometimes it shifts a little bit because of podcast recording or editing. I think my plan will be to start playing through My City – Roll and Build. I’m not sure how long the games will take, so it might be a couple of games a stream or just one a stream, we’ll have to see.

And, again, if you want to know when I go live or a new video goes up (it’s basically always live), please consider subscribing. You can do that here. And click that notification bell on the channel and you’ll always know when I go live.

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ISS Vanguard Sessions

This isn’t a breakdown of all of the previous sessions, you can check those out over on Malts and Meeples. And I will try and organize things soon over there so that there are playlists that you can go through. But I want to talk about the two phases and what to expect in a gaming session of ISS Vanguard.

How I play it on stream is different than how most people will play it. Most people will probably do a ship phase and a planetary exploration in one evening. And I also think that the speed which I play at is something else to note. Your game sessions, are going to be longer.

Combined Phases

Firstly, the ship phase and planet phase likely will be together. You won’t want to sit down and just do the ship phase and spend an hour doing that but then end up with it being mainly the bookkeeping side of things. Maybe you’ll want to sit down and do a planet by itself, if it takes longer, but not a ship phase.

I also think that in some planet situations, take Brimstone for example, I went back there twice. Why, because it made sense. And I don’t know if I would want to leave and then come back in a whole new sit down session if I weren’t play it on stream the way that I am.

Decision Making

The other thing is that I make decisions quickly. This is generally true in my gaming but very true for ISS Vanguard. There are moments where I slow down, but mainly I make a decision and I complete the actions. Multiplayer is going to take longer. You will discuss what you want to try and do in a round.

What does this all mean? It is just fair warning that your sessions will be longer. And that is fine and expected. Just know that when it comes to ISS Vanguard there will be differences in how you experience the game.

Upcoming Streams

Like I said, ISS Vanguard will be wrapping up here pretty soon. I think. I still love what the game is doing. But the next two weeks for sure will be ISS Vanguard and we’ll see where the story and adventure takes us. 8 PM Central Time on Wednesdays. Though the easiest way to know is by subscribing and clicking that notification bell to know when I put up something new.

And then on Mondays I stream at 8:30 PM normally. I missed this past week because we had to adjust for podcast recording. But the plan is to be back and I want to play Skytear Horde. So expect to see that one getting to the table. And eventually after that a playthrough of My City – Roll and Build as an upcoming stream.

And, again, if you want to know when I go live or a new video goes up (it’s basically always live), please consider subscribing. You can do that here. And click that notification bell on the channel and you’ll always know when I go live.

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ISS Vanguard Difficulty Level

Let’s talk about how hard or not the game is. Because I think that this time might suggest something different than it actually is. And with this, let’s also talk about the other Awaken Realms games that I’ve played. Because I think that people often place them into the category of difficult games. I am less convinced that they are too hard, but more aren’t always what people are looking for.

Previous Games

Lords of Hellas as a one of game has a lot of rules to learn. But the core loop of the game play is not that complicated. It’s just a matter of holding enough information in your head to make it work. And even then it is less than it’d seem because they give solid player aids. Then there’s Tainted Grail, which is difficult. But that’s what it was advertised as, so when people were complaining about getting what they signed up for, that confused me. And Awaken Realms gave easy ways to balance it that kept some of the core difficulty, and really it’s the grind, while streamlining it for more adventure.

ISS Vanguard

So that takes us to ISS Vanguard. I do own Etherfields, I need to play that one still. But ISS Vanguard, is it too hard. No. But I think for some people they aren’t going to appreciate the balancing act that which the game gives. Right now I’m in a ship phase. I’m looking to deal with situations. My plan is to recruit more crew. Plus then I’ll be able to spend some effort on building something, or researching something, hopefully.

I think that this is where people are going to get tripped up with this game. The ship phase is about managing everything. It is not just getting cool toys. Yes, you get cool toys. But you need to make sure you have enough alive and healthy crew to be able to continue. You balance the new stuff with making sure the morale is high enough. And it isn’t a situation where there are no benefits. They all provide benefits to you. But sometimes it’s hard to see that because you don’t get the flashy.

Now, I write this and ISS Vanguard is the one that I’ve seen complaints the least on. So that is good, I think that Awaken Realms is doing a better job of balancing. And throughout the ISS Vanguard development process, like with Tainted Grail, they keep saying what the game is. So if you don’t like what the game promised it was going to be, is it really their fault?

Upcoming Streams

Next Monday I am going to be playing a lane battling tower defense game. I have played it a few times multi-player cooperative, but now I want to try it solo. What game is that? Skytear Horde from Skytear Games. The gaming will start at 8:30 PM Central time on Monday.

And then next Wednesday, it is down to the planet in ISS Vanguard again. You can click the notification bell for the stream here. That is at 8 PM Central like normal. We will pick-up where we left off. If things move smoothly enough, we will start on the planetary phase as well, though, I think we’ll have some interesting situations in the ship phase.

And if you want to know when I go live or a new video goes up (it’s basically always live), please consider subscribing. You can do that here. And click that notification bell on the channel and you’ll always know when I go live.

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ISS Vanguard – Ship Phase

This, I think, could have gone faster had I been smarter about it. I did mess up once or twice and do a section that I really didn’t need to. Mainly because you can come back from the planet and do part of the ship phase, the elements that need to know the board state, and then save the game. So I went through those save steps.

So let’s talk about how and why that seems to work pretty well. I must say that I’m impressed with the simplicity of saving the state of the game. When you save the game it is simply putting things in the away bag. Now this is going to bug some people, drop cards into a bag and call it good. But it really does save the state of the game well for you.

The only downside and this is just something you need to pay attention to, is how you place your cards in. Certain things, like production and research need to face certain directions to not spoil what they do. That said, they aren’t hard to do that with, but I believe there might be a time where you have others of their cards facing the other direction. I’d be nice to have a separate pocket for those just so that you can remember which are completed or not.

It is also nice to get some of the story coming into the ship phase as well. I completed some research and got some story. That is one thing I was worried about, will I feel like I’m getting good story or will I feel like I’m just going through the motions after a bit. The answer is, I get story.

Upcoming Streams

So let’s start with Saturday. My wife is out of town so I’m thinking I’ll do a bonus stream. It’ll be a little bit different though and a chance to come and chat. But I recently started dabbling in Pokemon, just from a collection standpoint, not that I really need that. So I’ll have a few different products and packs to open up and see what I get, or even if I know what I get. The time on that is yet to be determined.

Then next Monday, at 8:30 PM Central, I’ll be unboxing The Isofarian Guard. I’m excited for this one and I really want to get it to the table. It’s a massive box, so hopefully some interesting stuff to look at. It won’t be minis, but what else is in there that’s interesting?

Finally, next Wednesday is going to be more ISS Vanguard. We’re onto the next planet, Brimstone, and I know people say planets take a while, so we’ll see if we get through this one. We’re coming in having landed on the planet with injured crew, and generally not a great spot to be in. But we have some supplies, will we be able to deal with the wind storm that is out there? Join me at 8 PM Central time. You can find that upcoming video here.

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ISS Vanguard Ship Phase

This one is interesting to talk about because I have some thoughts on it. Mainly about how it’s taught. Mostly the thoughts are good on it, but a few times I went looking for clarifications. So let’s get into that negative right now.

The ship phase of the game doesn’t really have a rule book. So you just go through the ship phase and are trying to figure it out from reading on that page. They do a very good job of explaining everything. But it’d be nice, especially for the first time, to run through it differently. Or to have a slightly better walkthrough of what is going on. The ship phase is supposed to be a tutorial itself, but it works, but on ly so well.

Once it became clear as to how it was working, then it moved smoother. And I think in the future it’ll go very smoothly. The system works well. I like that there are elements you are required to do, and then other things that you pick and choose. I know with the areas of the ship, you used to do them all when the game was originally on Gamefound. But I am glad that it changed.

It is also a meaningful section. I think being limited in what you can do is meaningful because now I wonder, what did I miss out on? I did production and research, those were two cool things. But are they worth passing on other areas that will help the ship as well? Or are they worth it for other things that might affect the sips morale that I’ll need to deal with eventually? It is a good question.

Upcoming Streams

Next stream is going to likely be either Roll to the Top or Planet Unknown again on Monday. I really liked Planet Unknown solo so I kind of want to get back to that. But Roll to the Top is a new game in my collection that I want to try. Either way at 8:30 PM Central time on Monday I will be streaming a board game. Who knows, by then it might be a different game that I pick.

And then next Wednesday, it is down to the planet in ISS Vanguard again. You can click the notification bell for the stream here. That is at 8 PM Central like normal. I want to see what a new planet will look like, or the remains of one.

And if you want to know when I go live or a new video goes up (it’s basically always live), please consider subscribing. You can do that here. And click that notification bell on the channel and you’ll always know when I go live.

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