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.

And if you want to know when I go live, checkout the channel page and subscribe. You can get notifications as to whenever I go live which is probably the simplest way to know. That link is here.

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The Game – Stars of Akarios

I think as I wrap it up I should talk about who this game is for. Because Stars of Akarios, like any campaign game is going to be a big ask for a lot of gamers. So instead of picking a group I think this will work for, I want to ask a few different questions about how you game.

Do You Want A Long Game?

This one is fairly obvious. I am 9 scenarios in, and I’m playing solo. I think the amount of time I’ve played is about 9 hours, probably a little bit less. And I say 9 scenarios, it is more than that because some of it is just reading and making a decision. But as I said on the video I was on page 37 of 197. Do you want to play something that long?

Do You Want A Game That Does A Lot Of Things?

I think this is the biggest question, and it’s also why I made sure I played as far as I did. The game has three parts. Exploring space, exploring planets, and space combat. Now space combat is the most common of them, but you do all of them, and all are important to the game. The space exploration can maybe be fast forwarded, but planet exploration and space combat are key. Do both of those interest you?

What Level of Writing Do You Expect?

Now, this is going to come down to taste, and what you expect from writing. I compare it to a game like Tainted Grail, and Stars of Akarios’s writing is just okay. I compared it to most literature, and it is not great. But, for me, the story in the game is fun, and I want to know what happens next. For me, that works as leading into the next bit of story and adventure that the game promises. But listening to what I read, did it make sense to you?

Do You Want a Directed Story?

Finally, with the story, how open a story do you want? Stars of Akarios is a game that gives you a lot of choice. Without spending much time on one of the planets, I found a couple of directions I could have gone. For some people, that is going to be great, and for me it works really well. I make a decision, and I get to see where that story goes. It means that next time I play it, I can make another and see what happens. For others, they feel like they miss out on story and want to do everything, so want it more directed.

Overall, I do think you need to be prepared for this game. Mainly in that this is a massive campaign and lifestyle game as you play it. And that is not a knock on the game, but knowing that it’s that big, you need to decide if it is for you. It is for me, but just because of that doesn’t mean that it’ll be for everyone.

Upcoming Streams

Next Monday is the continuation of my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2022 Edition. I am going to be going through games 60 through 51, getting to that mid point of the list. Here is a link to the upcoming video. If you want to catch it live, click that notification bell.

And coming up next Wednesday, I don’t know what I’ll be streaming. I think I have two different options, firstly, Chronicles of Drunagor is sitting on the shelf waiting to be unboxed and played. I could dive into a game of that, or do some smaller solo games. For those I have games like Set a Watch, Black Sonata, and Final Girl that I could get to the table as well.

Let me know what you want me to stream next? I am leaning towards Chronicles of Drunagor, if I have time to learn the rules but if not, what small solo game would you want to see?

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But that’s enough of that, let’s see how this mission of space exploration and combat went.

The Game – Stars of Akarios

So I want to talk about one thing that I don’t know if it’s a bad thing but is something to note. And that is going to be with space combat, the AI intelligence. Mainly because, I don’t find the AI to be all that intelligent. And that is a bit of a negative to the game.

There are elements of it that are thematic, I think. If you look at it as a dogfight, the spacecraft are all moving about shooting at each other. And the goal is to take out everyone that you can, but with multiple ships on the board you get out of position. But in terms of game mechanics, while it might match that, it means that it can put the enemy in a really bad position. They can’t shoot, so they rotate and move and if they stopped sooner they could shoot, but they do their full move.

So sometimes because I don’t have those constraints as much, I can plan my movement more, they end up in a spot I can just blast them. Or their movement just takes them out of the way of being able to get a shot. That means that some combats are a bit too easy, I think. So I might look, in the long run, to adjust the difficulty.

I also wonder if because there are different amounts of ships depending on the player count, if it might not balance better or be harder with more. Mainly because I can avoid three ships for a while. Or Gi’ardain can handle two ships shooting at him. But make that four in a turn, now there is a whole lot more tactical play.

Upcoming Streams

So the next stream is going to be on Monday at 8:30 PM Central. I’ll be going through the next part of my Top 100 Games. This time it’ll be games 80 through 71. You can catch up on the other videos over here. And click on the video below, and notification bell, to know when the video is live on Monday.

And then next Wednesday there is not going to be a stream. I’ll be out of town on vacation. But as I talk about in the video, and in the opening. I plan on wrapping up this assassin mission that I’m on. After that, I’m not sure I’ll continue. I want to, but I also want to show off other games. I’m looking at games like Oathsworn, ISS Vanguard – coming soon, Middara possibly, Folklore: The Affliction, and more that all need to get played.

Do you want more Stars of Akarios or to see a new game hit the table? And which game would you like to see played?

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