Friday, May 13, 2022

MIA from the Top 100 2022: Nemo's War


I'm not sure what happened... but five games that SHOULD have been in my top 100 somehow got missed. So, I'm blogging about them now. Sheesh.
Nemo's War


  • rank: 276
  • rating: 7.9
  • published: 2017
Print Status
  • in print
Why It's On The List
  • A solo "wargame" that is brimming with thematic touches (from the event deck to some of the unusual ship choices)... and an impressive level of variability created simply by changing Nemo's objective.
Tips & Tricks:
    • Nemo’s War was designed as a solitaire game – everything from the unidirectional layout of the board to the theme of the game scream “low player count”. That said, there are variants in the rule book to play with more players… but I frankly have no interest in messing up what has been a delight as a solo game with extra people.
    • Nemo’s War reminds me a bit of old school wargames – ships have attack and defense values, there are a lot of dice rolls, and there is even a printed CRT on the board for the various actions. At the same time, it incorporates action expenditures, bag draws, ways to mitigate bad die rolls, etc. from the more modern game designs.
    • Each objective demands different play styles and trade-offs, which I find endlessly fascinating. So far, I’ve proven to be the most successful at exploration – while all-out war with the nations does not seem to be my forte. I must also note that I play on the lowest difficulty setting – I cannot imagine cranking this up to the highest level… I’d be fish food in a few turns.
    • The game runs about 90 minutes now that I’ve internalized the rules and the order of play – it isn’t unusual for me to play a couple of times in a night if I’m stuck in a hotel on a business trip. And I’m always eager to play it again.
    Extras
    • There are multiple expansion packs available - I sprung for all of them. The Bold & Caring pack adds 2 new objectives, which makes the game even more varied.
    • The Journey's End expansion just shipped... and it's well worth your time & money!

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