Unmatched: Battle of Legends - A Game System Review

• Unmatched: Battle of Legends, Volume One
• Plays: 53
• Unmatched: Robin Hood vs Bigfoot
• Plays: 20
• Unmatched: Cobble & Fog  
• Plays: 14
• Unmatched: Jurassic Park – InGen vs Raptors
• Plays: 13
• Unmatched: Bruce Lee
• Plays: 8
• Playtesting
• Plays: 13

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… well, not really. The galaxy was actually my local Toys’R’Us (which is now pushing up business daisies) where I purchased Hasbro’s movie tie-in board game: Star Wars: Epic Duels. The year was 2002 and George Lucas was busy failing us in a variety of different ways.

C-3PO: I suggest a new strategy, R2. Let the Wookiee win.

Epic Duels had a lot going for it in those days:

• Painted miniatures of all the major Star Wars characters Episodes 1-2 and 4-6 (granted, they were pretty slapdash paint jobs, but they were better than anything I could do)
• Individual combat decks for each character and his/her sidekicks that encouraged players to make similar choices to their characters… for example, Anakin’s deck gives the player lots of extra actions/attacks, while the Obi-Wan deck has a balance of movement, attack and defense
• 4 different boards to fight on – including the Imperial Throne Room and the carbonite freezing chamber
• The price point was $20 – and even with the cardboard game boards and cheaply painted minis, it was a good deal.

The game itself was pretty simple – teams of players went into mortal combat with each other. Each turn, the active player rolled the movement die (which might allow only one of their characters to move or possibly all of them) and then took two actions: they could play a card, draw a card, or discard two cards of a dead character to heal 1 point.

I played a lot of Epic Duels over the years – 45 times, according to my records on BGG. For a while back in 2002, it was our go-to game every Saturday night with a bunch of friends from the church I pastored. (I do not recommend 6 player free-for-alls… the decks are not balanced or designed for such nonsense.)

I’m the first to tell you that the game has not aged well – neither the quality of the minis or the problems with the design leave much to recommend it. We tried again last summer with a 2 vs 2 team match and actually called the game before it ended. (And if anyone is looking to trade/buy a lovingly used copy, mine is available.) Too many of the decks require a player to “turtle” for multiple turns to build up enough cards – which was exacerbated by drawing a card taking one of your two actions per turn. The sidekicks vary wildly in usefulness – which, while thematically correct (Chewie with a crossbow blaster is certainly more help than a couple of Episode 1 battle droids), is not very enjoyable from a play perspective. The simple square movement grid combined with the randomness of the movement die could frustrate even the best-laid plans.

At the same time, there were some wonderful ideas buried in the design – the individual decks tied to character and fighting style, the bluff/counter-bluff attack & defense system, and the fast-playing nature of each turn. Epic Duels felt “right”… until it didn’t, as other card-based fighting games innovated in new ways.

Padmé Amidala: Sometimes there are things no one can fix.

Fast forward 17 years and the good folks at Restoration Games enter the picture. Well, re-enter the picture, as designer Rob Daviau was part of the original design team on Epic Duels.

What Restoration dreamed up is a complete overhaul of the game… like you took your ’72 Ford Pinto into the shop and they sent back a Porsche 911. Both of them run on internal combustion engines, granted… but one has an annoying tendency to explode when it get rear-ended while the other is one of the finest pieces of automotive machinery ever designed.

Let’s start, as Padmé says, with the stuff that can’t be fixed. The Star Wars license is currently in the hands of other companies, so all hopes of having the Emperor & Jango Fett tag team against Anakin & Yoda are gone. (You can, of course, homebrew your own card decks and steal the minis from a copy of Epic Duels… and there are folks who’ve done just that over on BGG.)

The rest of the game, though, was ripe for improvement… and the team at Restoration Games made it happen.

Yoda: Always pass on what you have learned.

One of the blessings (and occasionally curses) of being in the hobby for a long time (my hobby gaming pre-dates the existence of AH’s Squad Leader and the hardcover D&D Players Handbook) is being able to see the lineage of game designs… for example, that the individual hex tiles of the isle of Catan appeared nearly a decade earlier in Kings & Things.

Seventeen years was enough time for a lot of really positive developments that show up in Unmatched…

The Board

The map system used in Unmatched is almost identical to the Pathfinder map system originally created for Tannhauser. (Tannhauser, for those of you who missed it, was an alt-history miniatures combat game in a world where WWI never ended and the various combatants are seeking arcane power – I once described it as “Hellboy, Harry Turtledove & Halo rolled into one.”) The Pathfinder system used color to denote which spaces had LOS (line of sight) to each other so you could quickly figure out whether or not ranged combat was possible. Spaces with multiple colors – usually “high ground” or “strategic positions” – enabled figures to have LOS to lots of spaces.

So, in Unmatched, tracing LOS simply means “am I standing on the same color space as the player I want to attack?” Which, in turn, allows the focus of the game to be on the actual card vs card combat rather than figuring out if you can even “see” the other character.

The Miniatures

I love me some pre-painted miniatures… because I absolutely stink as a painter. But the minis in Epic Duels were not… epic.

Let me rephrase that – when they look like I could do a better job of painting your minis, you need to find a new method of getting them painted. (Yes, I know that the MSRP for Epic Duels was $20 – and that many of you picked it up on clearance for $5 – but they’re still sloppy paint jobs.)

Unmatched uses much more detailed miniatures and gives them a nice wash that makes them pop – which is great for those of us who are never going to deface high-quality minis with our lack of artistic skills.

The “sidekicks” are plastic discs – whether we’re talking about Bigfoot’s buddy the Jackalope or Medusa’s harpies. This has caused some consternation amongst old-school Epic Duels players who think every character should have a miniature. (Aside for non-English speakers: “consternation” is the nice way to say “griping”.) While I would love to have more minis (remember, I’m the guy with a full Heroscape collection in multiple rolling bins in his garage), there’s actually a solid gameplay reason for making the key hero stand out – it is the elimination of the key hero that signals the end of the game. This makes teaching non-gamers that much easier when the components reinforce the importance of a piece.

The Hit Trackers

In Epic Duels, the hit trackers were thin cardboard chits on an even thinner cardstock character sheet. Restoration Games added dials for each character with more than a single hit point – which includes some of the sidekick characters. Attractive and functional – a winning combination. (You make your own “sounds like someone I’d like to date” joke here… but I’ve been happily married for 30 years and I’m not going there.)

The Inserts

Box inserts can sometimes be a pain – but the design of the Unmatched inserts is really sweet. (I can quibble with a couple of the inserts with how they left out a notch to make getting cards out easier, but that’s small potatoes compared to the high quality of the rest of the trays.)

Shmi Skywalker: You can’t stop change any more than you can stop the suns from setting.

The really important changes, though, are in the design of the game…

Improved Movement

Epic Duels used a custom movement die which gave either an amount of movement points for a single character or allowed all the characters to move. While this was simple and easy to understand, it combined with certain deck designs to lead to turtling – if you could stay far enough away from melee-oriented characters, you could simply sit & rack up cards.

In Unmatched, drawing a card is a part of taking a Movement action (see Improved Turn Order below)… and a Movement action means all the members of your team can move. Movement points are set by team – so the Raptors are faster (3 movement points) than, say, King Arthur (2 movement points).

In addition, each card has a Boost value on it. Discard a card when taking a movement action and you can add its Boost value to your team’s movement points.

Improved Turn Order

A player in Epic Duels had two actions to do the following three things:

• Draw a card
• Discard a dead character card to heal another character 1 point
• Play a card (attack or use a special card)

In Unmatched, players still have two actions… but a different menu of choices:

• Movement (which consists of drawing a card and then moving any or all of your team members)
• Playing a Special Card
• Attacking another player

Healing is built into many of the decks… and dead character cards can be used to boost movement (as well as attacks for some characters).

Hand Management

Hand size is limited to 7 cards at the end of your turn, down from 10 cards in Epic Duels.

More importantly, running out your deck of 30 cards is a bad idea – every time you need to draw a card and cannot do so, your main character takes 2 damage. With over 50 plays, I’ve only seen this happen once… but it definitely impacts strategy and tactics. Some decks run through cards quickly (I’m looking at you, King Arthur & Bruce Lee), making folks playing those decks watch their card consumption carefully.

This also helps immensely with the turtling problem and creates a built-in game “timer”.

Tighter Boards

In addition to using the LOS system from Tannhauser, the Restoration team shrunk the board size to tighten up matches and movement. It isn’t down to “knife fight in a phone booth” level… but there are few good places to hide for an extended length of time.

In the later Unmatched maps, they are starting to play with new innovations, including secret passages (Baskerville Manor) and one-way movement arrows (the Raptor Paddock).

Innate Powers

Each character/team starts with an innate power that is both a thematic element and a part of shaping their deck and playing style. Paying attention to these powers (which are on a player aid card along with the movement allowance for your team) is key.

Fine-Tuned Decks

I won’t go into detail about deck construction – but suffice it to say that the Restoration team honed these deck designs down tightly. Each deck feels and plays differently – tactics that work well with Bigfoot are ill-advised if you’re playing Sindbad or Robin Hood.

If you’re interested in a deeper dive, the folks at Geektopia Games have some great writing and resources on deck structure… including an Unmatched Maker. And, let me warn you, this is a Marianas Trench-level deeper dive – but worth your time if that’s something that interests you.

Greef Carga: Let’s make the baby do the magic hand thing. Come on, baby. Do the magic hand thing.

I’m not sure what the above quote has to do with a section on the various Unmatched boxes you can purchase… but it makes me laugh every time, so I used it anyway. Sue me.

Unmatched: Battle of Legends Volume One

The first box released includes four heroes and a double-sided map large enough for 2 vs 2 battles. Along with Robin Hood vs Bigfoot, this is probably the version I’d suggest to players who are new to Unmatched and/or Epic Duels. King Arthur is the most difficult to play well… but all four heroes have unique decks and fighting styles.

Unmatched: Robin Hood vs Bigfoot

This box has two heroes and a double-sided map aimed at 1 vs 1 matches. These two characters are probably the easiest heroes for newbies to learn with… but there are plenty of tricks in their decks as well. If you are curious but don’t want to spend too much, this is an excellent introduction to the game system.

Unmatched: Bruce Lee

No map in the box… but you do get to play Bruce Lee, which is either an invitation to run roughshod over your opponent or get pummeled into next week. (We had a Bruce vs the Raptors battle that lasted 5 minutes with the clever girls tearing him apart.) Bruce is a lot of fun but he’s better for experienced players.

Unmatched: Ingen vs Raptors

This is the first of three promised Jurassic Park boxes – it has Muldoon and the Ingen hunters against three Raptors. Muldoon’s trap ability combines with his ranged attack to make him a potent opponent and one that is relatively easy to learn how to play. The Raptors are tougher to learn, but on maps with lots of connections can use their pack attack to wreak havoc. The two player map in this box is single-sided.

Unmatched: Cobble & Fog

The second box of four heroes (with a double-sided map large enough for 2 vs 2 play) has a wide array of characters associated with London. Sherlock Holmes (and his sidekick, Dr. Watson) require the most experience with the game system to play well – there are specific cards in his deck which work substantially better if you have knowledge of your opponent’s deck composition. Dracula is the easiest to play, with the other three heroes requiring more finesse.

Yoda: Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future.

There is a whole lot of Unmatched stuff in the publication/development pipeline. Later this year (2020) will see the release of Unmatched: Buffy and as-yet-unrevealed 2 character box. 2021 will see the remainder of the Jurassic Park releases and a new Battle of Legends box.

Restoration Games is playtesting characters beyond that point as well – including their Unmatched Design Contest which will be the basis for an upcoming four character box.

Kuiil: I have spoken.

By this point, you’re probably not surprised that I’m a huge fan of the Unmatched game system and recommend it highly to anyone… nor will you be taken aback that my oldest son acquired his own full set of Unmatched to take to college with him.

Here’s the big picture… a 1 vs 1 game takes 15-25 minutes; 2 vs 2 usually runs 30-45 minutes. There are currently 13 different characters to choose from, each with their own well-balanced deck design. There are 7 different maps currently available that offer a variety of challenges. The art design is very cool and the game is well-playtested. And… it is one of the best fighting games I’ve played. 

And I’m looking forward to taking on my younger son tonight!

Note: While I did not receive review copies of any of the Unmatched boxes, my boys & I are playtesters for Unmatched (which involves printing your own cards & maps). This review originally appeared on the Opinionated Gamers website.

Northgard: First Impressions

I’m not sure if I’m showing my age and/or my relative immaturity here… but any time I play a game about Vikings, this is what pops into my head.

So, let’s just start with a simple statement of truth. The Muppets, led by Jim Henson, are one of the cultural touchstones of the 20th Century.

Oh, yeah… I’m supposed to be giving you, dear reader, my first impressions of Northgard, the new board game based on the popular video game. (Actually, I have no idea if it’s popular or not – I don’t play that many video games any more. I do know that I can order it in a variety of different formats… and since I have teenage sons, at my house I could play it on Steam, the Nintendo Switch, or our Xbox One.)

Once again, I have managed to chase a rabbit (this one made of pixels) and get away from the point of this article: a preview of the Northgard: Uncharted Lands board game which is currently on Kickstarter. Seeing as how I am unsure of your level of patience, I’ll proceed with that forthwith.

First, thanks to the good folks at Open Sesame Games, who know how to do prototypes right. The quality of the components were top-notch and made for a good solid first impressions experience. In addition, they provided me with the means to create a proxy version of the Creatures expansion – more on that later.

Second… well, there is no second. It’s just time for me to play the music and light the lights!

The Story

Welcome to the wonderful world of Vikings! In Northgard: Uncharted Lands, you lead your Viking clan to explore the wilderness, harvest resources, build a variety of structures, and occasionally engage in combat in order to emerge as the victor in this race for glory and fame. Long past your death, warriors will tell stories in the mead halls of your feats of daring, my friend. (Alternately, you may have to hoist your own can of Coke Zero and brag about it on Facebook – that’s kind of the way we’re leaning these days.)

At the end of 7 rounds, the player with most fame wins… fame which is amassed by

• Exploring and closing in territories (similar to finishing a city in Carcassonne)
• Keeping control of those territories at the end of a round
• Controlling an Altar of Kings (a building which sheds fame like a long-haired poodle)
• Playing certain special action cards
• Having leftover resources (3 resources = 1 fame) at the end of the game

Alternately, a clan that controls 3 closed (complete) areas with a large building at the end of any round automatically wins the game.

The Way the Game Rolls Along

Each round, players draw four cards from their action deck to make up their hand… and as many cards as the number of players from the common deck are laid face-up for drafting.

Then, in turn, players take one action by playing action cards or taking an alternate action until they decide to pass and draft a new card. The first player to pass becomes the start player for the next round.

Alternate actions include:

• Wait: Playing an action card without using the action
• Replace: Paying a Lore resource to discard an action card and draw a new card from your deck
• Remove: Paying two Lore resources to cull an action card from your hand and draw a new card from your deck
• Upgrade: Paying three Lore resources to add one of your Level 2 Clan cards to your hand
• After all players have passed, each clan collects fame from their closed territories as well as resources (Food, Wood, Lore) based on the symbols in those territories and/or buildings. Players can trade any 3 resource tokens for the resource token of their choice at this time.

As George R.R. Martin told us, “Winter is coming” – and so players must spend food to feed their clan… based on the number of clan members currently hard at work in the uncharted lands (instead of those freeloaders who sit in front of you, laying about as if they hadn’t a care in the world.) If you are unable to pay, you must take an Unrest card, which not only gums up your deck but also penalizes you with negative Fame at the end of the game.

With that, the round comes to an end and players check for a winner (remember: 3 large buildings in closed territories). Repeat up to six more times and you’ve got yourself a game of Northgard.

The Clever Deck-building Bit at the Heart of the Game

Each player begins the game with seven action cards:

• Build (which allows them, you’ll be surprised to know, to build a building)
• Explore (which enables them to draw a new map tile and place it adjacent to an open territory with one of their clan members)
• Move (which lets them move 1 clan member to an adjacent territory… and potentially start a brawl with a neighbor)
• Recruit (which allows them – and again your surprise will be palpable – to place a new clan member on a territory they control)
• Feast (which is a wild card allowing a player to do any of the above actions)
• Their Level 1 Clan card – each clan has a different set of powers and action cards they can use

On a turn, a player can take a variety of actions… but most of the time, they’ll be playing one of the four cards in their hand in order to take that particular action.

When a player decides not to take any more actions, they pass… and part of passing is drafting one of the face-up action cards to the top of their deck. Pass early and get the card you want; wait till later and trade a less favorable draft for time to act uninterrupted by pesky neighboring clans.

The drafted action cards have a variety of twists on the basic actions:

• Build cards that allow building more than one building or offer a discount in resources
• Explore cards that allow more tiles to be drawn or explored
• Move cards that allow more units to move… and sometimes with extra combat symbols
• Recruiting cards that allow more units to be recruited
• Draw cards that allow you to cycle your deck
• Special action cards that reward you with extra fame for fulfilling certain criteria

Over the course of the game, the cards you choose to draft will change the way your clan is likely to participate in the game… and, due to the random way the cards become available, the tone of each game may be markedly different based on the draft row. For example, if a lot of move and recruit cards show up early in the draft, it’s likely to be a game filled with the sounds of combat… or if the focus is on explore and special actions, it will be a more peaceful race to close territories and build buildings.

There are also some cards which have a lightning bolt symbol (called “Flash cards” in the game rules) – these cards can be played before or after playing an action card – and can help a clan leap into action or solidify their defense, as well taking less time to get to the point where they want to pass and draft a new card.

The Map

The map is generated by players exploring… if and only if they have clan members in an open (aka “unfinished”) territory. Take an Explore action, draw a tile, orient it as you wish (as long as no stray boundary lines appear, and the uncharted lands become slightly less uncharted.

There are four main features on map tiles:

• building sites (more on that in a minute)
• border lines (dashed lines are “normal”; solid lines indicated mountains which are more difficult to cross)
• resource symbols (Food, Wood, or Lore which are there just for the taking)
• lairs (where creatures reside if you’re using the expansion)

When a player finishes a territory (completely closes it in) that they controls, they receive one fame for each tile that is a part of that territory.

Buildings

There are eight different buildings that can be built.. five smaller buildings at the bargain cost of a single Wood resource and three large buildings which will set your clan back a hefty three Wood resources. Buildings must be built on the appropriate sized building locations (unless you draft a card that allows you to bend the rules).

The small buildings include

• the Food Silo (which adds a Food resource symbol)
• the Woodcutter Lodge (which adds a Wood resource symbol)
• the Carved Stone (which adds a Lore resource symbol… but can only be built on “standing stone” building sites)
• the Training Camp (which gives you an extra clan member when you recruit to that territory)
• the Outhouse of Death (OK, that’s not the official name… it’s the Defense Tower, which adds a skull for combats when defending the region. But it looks a little like a privy/water closet/etc., so that’s what we named it.)

The large buildings include

• the Altar of Kings (the aforementioned site harvests 3 Fame for whoever controls it at the end of each turn)
• the Fortress (which adds two axes to combat when defending the region)
• the Forge (which increases your hand size by 1… so, if you have multiple Forges, even more cards to play each turn)

The building system is simple and clear – and the artwork on them (even the Outhouse of Death) is easy to read across the table. (Those of you wanting cool miniature buildings should heed the problems of such foolishness as illustrated by the Kickstarter buildings from Dice Settlers, a game I like very much but who made building minis that actively make the game more difficult to play.)

Combat

When two different clans occupy the same territory, a battle begins. A clan’s combat strength (axes) is determined by:

• The number of clan members present (+1 per figure)
• The number of clan members fed (+1 per Food token spent… but no more than the number of figures present)
• Any combat symbols (axes or skulls) on buildings or the move card played
• The roll of the combat die

Skulls mean your opponent must choose to remove one of their clan members – and if one side is decimated before comparing axe scores, then the combat is over. If both sides have clan members remaining, then the scores are compared and the higher score wins and forces the other to retreat.

As befits Viking warfare, combat can be absolutely brutal in Northgard. I strongly suggest that part of teaching the game be a couple of sample combats so players can see how “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft a-gley.” (Yes, I know… Robert Burns was not a Viking. But he’s not wrong.)

Warchiefs

Northgard includes an “in-the-box” expansion with the warchief figures for each clan. For folks with a little bit of gaming experience, it’s not a big deal to add this to your first game – it just adds some mild twists to combat. (The warchief powers are on each clan player board, so it’s clear that the design team feels like they are an important part of the game design.)

Creatures of Northgard

Part of the Kickstarter is an expansion that adds non-player creatures to the game – hence the descriptive “Creatures of Northgard” name. These various beasties can co-exist peacefully… but also can decide to attack neighboring territories based on their card AI.

Players may also decide to hunt them down for fame – it can be your own personal stab at recreating Beowulf. (Note: as an English major, I’d encourage you to read Beowulf in the original Old English. This, for many of you, will make me even less popular than my usual suggestion to read The Canterbury Tales in Middle English. But that’s the way I roll.)

The creatures offer a slight bit of complication to the rules – but the subsequent tightening of the board space will increase the number of balls which players have to juggle.

My Thoughts

We’ve played four games of Northgard prior to me writing this first impression – and I’ve enjoyed each one. Both of our three-player games ended in round six with a player holding 3 closed territories with large buildings. Our two player games (one with the Creatures of Northgard expansion, one without) went the full seven rounds and were won on fame points.

The game clocks in at 45 minutes for two players and just over an hour for three players… which leads me to believe that four & five player games should end up in the 75-90 minute mark. The playing time feels right for the weight of the game… enough time to accomplish some of your goals without the game overstaying its welcome.

As I noted in my explanation above, the tiles drawn and cards available for drafting can determine the tone of a game. While the common deck is weighted towards move & recruit cards – nearly half involve recruiting clan members or moving them into position – there is the possibility in lower player count games of having a much more “Viking festival of friends” vibe instead of a “Vikings plunder and pillage mercilessly” vibe. (Note: I am playing with the prototype version of the game that does not include any stretch goal cards.) The map tiles have a similar effect – if a number of large building sites become available early, the game is likely to focus on the race to three large buildings.

Northgard: Uncharted Lands is on the lighter end of the 4x game spectrum – but it does contain a good bit of the rough & tumble that goes with the genre. I think that the shorter playing time helps ease some of the pain of getting sandwiched and/or run over, but players should go in knowing this isn’t Carcassonne with cute Viking miniatures.

One more note about the playing time: for those out there who want their 4x games to be an event (I’m looking at those folks who were excited to see the Twilight Imperium expansion announcement), Northgard is going to be painfully short. As I am not one of those gluttons for day-long punishment, I take that as a real positive.

Quibbles

Remember, I really like the game… but I do have some questions/quibbles/concerns:

• The rules reverse standard usage of “rounds” and “turns” – which is confusing when you’re teaching/learning the game but inconsequential once you actually know how it works. This may be an artifact of the game being designed outside the U.S. market.
• One of our players was really frustrated with his lack of resources based on his initial placement draw of a tile with no resources on it. We house-ruled for the rest of our games that an initial placement tile with no resources on it could be discarded to the bottom of the stack and a replacement tile drawn.

That’s pretty much it for my quibbles… so take that as you will.

Legal Stuff

As a reminder, I received no compensation from Open Sesame Games except the prototype copy of Northgard in order to play it. I am not an actual Viking, or even a very good pretend Viking. I don’t like mead – and wearing a horned hat is guaranteed to make my ever-so-patient wife more likely to make fun of me.

Pictures here were either (a) from the publisher, or (b) taken by me with an iPhone using the wonderful Hipstamatic app. In my mind, I’m a hip photographer with an artistic flair; in reality, I’m a middle-aged guy with a smartphone in his basement.

If you’re interested, the Kickstarter for Northgard: Uncharted Lands runs through September 1, 2020 (that's today!)

This review originally was published on the Opinionated Gamers website.

Accurately Handling the Word of Truth

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:1-2 (NIV)

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:1-2 (NASB)

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate[a] the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:12-18 (NIV) 

"So let’s run the race marked out for us. Let’s fix our eyes on Old Glory and all she represents. Let’s fix our eyes on this land of heroes and let their courage inspire. Let’s fix our eyes on the author and perfecter of our faith and our freedom, and never forget that where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. That means freedom always wins."

Vice President Pence - August 26, 2020 (transcript source)

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I get it. I understand rhetorical flourish and echoing classic passages of literature to evoke emotion.

But we as evangelicals are called to "be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15, NASB). What Vice President Pence did last night is not accurately handling Scripture.

There are things we as followers of Christ are NOT called to do...

• prioritize the American flag (and what it represents) over Jesus
• prioritize this "land of heroes" (America) over the Kingdom of God

...that are clearly implied by Vice President Pence's appropriation of Scriptural language. 

Evangelical historian John Fea pointed out that, in Biblical context, 2 Corinthians 3:17 "has NOTHING to do w/ political freedom & everything to do w/ freedom from sin, death, & guilt... The patriotic ministers of the American Revolution used scripture this way all the time. It was wrong then and its wrong now."

I am reminded of C.S. Lewis' words in The Weight of Glory:

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which,if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all of our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.” (emphasis mine)

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I wanted to come up with something wise and convicting to close this post with... I wanted to turn on my "pastor mojo" and finish with marching orders to my fellow followers of Christ.

But I'm tired. So tired of watching Biblical truth being used as a prop.

So, I leave you with this.

Pray always. Pray in the Spirit. Pray about everything in every way you know how! And keeping all this in mind, pray on behalf of God’s people. Keep on praying feverishly, and be on the lookout until evil has been stayed.

Ephesians 6:18 (VOICE)

Walk & Chew Gum

Some things that you are able to do at the same time:

- like highly rated games on BoardGameGeek and still enjoy playing Monopoly

- love watching renovation shows on television and not actually enjoy renovating things yourself

- home school your kids and support public schools

- be a follower of Christ and not be a Republican

- be a follower of Christ and not be a Democrat

- believe in personal freedom and still wear a mask in public to protect others

- believe in the inspired nature of the Bible and still listen to scientists

- believe that systemic racism in America must be dealt with while denouncing violent rioting 

- be an advocate for policing reform while supporting police officers

- passionately protest racial injustice and show profound respect for people regardless of color

- be a white evangelical without supporting our current President

- discuss issues with people who disagree with you while not demanding that they change their minds as the price of your friendship

Be It Finally Resolved...

 A reminder... 22 years ago, the evangelical denomination I've been a part of all my life passed the following resolution.

A lament... whatever happened to this Biblical call for moral leadership?

WHEREAS, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people” (Proverbs 14:34 NAS); and

WHEREAS, Serious allegations continue to be made about moral and legal misconduct by certain public officials; and

WHEREAS, The Bible calls upon all citizens to submit themselves to their governing authorities as ministers of the Lord (Romans 13:1; 1 Peter 2:13); and

WHEREAS, Scripture further teaches, “Whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves” (Romans 13:2); and

WHEREAS, Governing authorities are not themselves exempt from the rule of law and must submit to the nation’s statutes, rather than mocking them (Romans 13:1; 1 Peter 2:14; Proverbs 19:28-29; 2 Samuel 12:7; Mark 6:17-18); and

WHEREAS, Some journalists report that many Americans are willing to excuse or overlook immoral or illegal conduct by unrepentant public officials so long as economic prosperity prevails; and

WHEREAS, Tolerance of serious wrong by leaders sears the conscience of the culture, spawns unrestrained immorality and lawlessness in the society, and surely results in God’s judgment (1 Kings 16:30; Isaiah 5:18-25); and

WHEREAS, Many public officials and candidates deserve our gratitude and support for their consistent moral character and their uncompromising commitment to biblical principles of right and wrong, resulting in blessing upon their people.

Therefore, be it RESOLVED, That we, the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting June 9-11, 1998, in Salt Lake City, Utah, affirm that moral character matters to God and should matter to all citizens, especially God’s people, when choosing public leaders; and

Be it further RESOLVED, That we implore our government leaders to live by the highest standards of morality both in their private actions and in their public duties, and thereby serve as models of moral excellence and character; and

Be it further RESOLVED, That we urge all citizens, including those who serve in public office, to submit themselves respectfully to governing authorities and to the rule of law; and

Be it further RESOLVED, That we urge Southern Baptists and other Christians to fulfill their spiritual duty to pray regularly for the leaders of our nation (1 Timothy 2:1-4); and

Be it finally RESOLVED, That we urge all Americans to embrace and act on the conviction that character does count in public office, and to elect those officials and candidates who, although imperfect, demonstrate consistent honesty, moral purity and the highest character.

the Resolution on Moral Character of Public Officials of the Southern Baptist Convention (emphasis mine)

O how terrible for those who confuse good with evil,

    right with wrong, light with dark, sweet with bitter. 

 Isaiah 5:20 THE VOICE

Remembering James Miller

I found out yesterday evening that my friend, James Miller, had passed away due to an aggressive infection that turned septic. He was 50 years old. 

What follows is a series of memories, thoughts, and images about James and his impact on me.

---

I met James for the first time at - in a plot twist that will surprise no one that knew him - a board gaming convention in 2000. Why I was in the car that went to pick him up at the Chattanooga airport is a piece of the story that is lost to the mists of 20 years... but I distinctly remember liking James immediately. He was the kind of person who made the room (or the car) a little brighter, a little warmer, and a whole lot more welcoming.

---

I'm going to tell you a joke... it's not a particularly funny joke, but it's one that James loved and that I made up and therefore you're going to have to hear it. 

At my first Gathering of Friends (an invitational board game convention) in 2002, I passed by a table late one evening where James and some other folks were playing Pueblo. In the game, you place Tetris-like blocks into a central structure and assess points based on what can be seen from each side of the edifice... and also from above. As James explained the rules to me, I remarked that this overhead view was a "Hopi-copter"... and that's all it took to reduce James to near-tears of laughter. 

Over the years, he would mention that line and grin ear to ear or chuckle... and I felt both proud of my wordplay (something James was brilliant at) and enveloped in his humor and friendship.

--- 

James is not the only friend who made it possible for me to attend Gulf Games and The Gathering of Friends during my time as small church pastor in California - the generosity of those folks were a balm to my weary soul, particularly near the end of my ministry. But James was even more than that - for two years (2012 and 2013), he was my roommate and confidante at The Gathering. 

Each time, we spent over a week living with each other, taking care of each other (James made sure I ate, I made sure he rested). We played lots of games, since we both operated on the same "early morning" schedule... and our "let's see what older games deserve a second chance" meetings with Mario were a highlight of my Gathering experience.

James worried that his snoring would keep me awake. I felt the same for him. Somehow, we cancelled each other out.

In 2012, he listened and encouraged me as I talked about the struggles I'd had with leading the church and my hopes that we were reaching a better place. In 2013, when I attended the Gathering after I had resigned my role as pastor, he listened and gave me a safe place to hurt and to laugh. 

I will never forget the gift of being his roomie.

---

When James found out that the Jackson family didn't have an iPad, he mailed us one of his. 

I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, but we were not in a position where we could have bought an iPad - and that one gave us years of good service and enjoyment. To James, it was just another way to help out and care for us. 

It did.

---

For years, I told Shari and the boys that I wished they could meet James... and in the spring of 2019, the boys finally had the opportunity at the last Gulf Games to be held in Chattanooga. (I just realized - the last place I saw James is the first place I saw James.)

He took the three of us to lunch and we told stories, laughed, ate too much food, and generally enjoyed each others company. Both Collin & Braeden walked away saying how much they liked James... that he was as neat as I'd said he was. 

In February 2020, Collin & I had to bow out of attending Gulf Games due to Shari's health... one of the things that bummed both of us out was missing the opportunity to see James.

---

Seeing so many people post their memories of James and his warmth, his friendship, his incredible kindness, his humor, and his enjoyment of others yesterday and this morning has been both heartwarming and emotionally difficult. I'm thankful for the difference he made in so many lives; I'm crushed that I won't be sitting across the table from him again and hear him welcome me to the wonderful world of [fill in the blank] as he explains the rules. 

I also realized I don't have any pictures of James... or James & me. I'm blaming the fact that I was busy having fun with him and never bothered to pick up the camera/phone.

---

I am thankful for James and for his friendship... and I'm heartbroken at his death. 

Our 2020 GenCan't Experience

For someone with over 1000 games in the house (if you count expansions), I'm not really a big gaming convention guy. The last open convention I attended was TN Game Days a couple of years back (700 or so folks) and the last BIG convention I went to was KublaCon around 2006. 

So, the yearly pilgrimage to Indianapolis to GenCon hasn't ever been on my schedule. Dealing with 60,000+ gamers all in one place just doesn't appeal to me - no matter how much I'd enjoy seeing many of the folks who attend. Instead, for the last few years, the boys & I have participated in GenCan't - an online convention for those who can't (or don't) attend GenCon.

This year, of course, GenCon went online due to the virus, but GenCan't went on as usual, with a great Discord channel for chat, a bunch of events & contests, and the fun of sharing our board gaming hobby with each other. (We even have badges!)

In that spirit, I present to you the story of our GenCan't (with a bit of sneaking in the virtual back door at GenCon to peek at some of the new stuff.)

DAY ONE: Thursday

Some great conversation on the Discord channel... and sadly, work got in the way of me play MegaKaruba with folks online. But after work, the gaming began in earnest.

Flowerpower: A classic 2 player game from Kosmos that desperately needs a reprint... Collin (my younger son) took me on and gave me a run for my money. I have a long history of winning this game against most folks - but I edged Collin out with some selective weed placement. (This game also gets an award for Best Vaguely Off-Putting Box Cover with a willowy female flower/person and a short/rotund male flower/person.)

Downforce (Aloha Sands track): This track from the newest Downforce expansion has quickly become our favorite... the jumps (a) just look cool, and (b) offer some very interesting decisions about when to make a break for the finish line. (Downforce is the cleanest and easiest to teach version of Wolfgang Kramer's excellent racing system... over time, I've owned Tempo, Top Race, Detroit/Cleveland Grand Prix, and Daytona 500. The only ones still left in the collection are Downforce and Daytona.) I won rather handily, thanks to spending very little on my cars and Collin betting heavily on my lead car.

Unmatched: Battle of Legends: The first of three Unmatched battles took place later in the evening... and Braeden and I played while we watched the CGE preview of Lost Ruins of Arnak. (Which looks cool, by the way.) This was a battle to the wire, as Braeden's last Raptor took down my Medusa with only a few hit points to spare. I hate to admit it, but he outplayed me.


DAY TWO: Friday

Work once again interferes with boardgaming... sigh. But I did get a chance to watch/listen to the Restoration Games "Blueprints" panel/feed from GenCon - excited about all the love for Unmatched and the content of the upcoming expansions. Also jazzed that Return to Dark Tower is staying relatively close to the original schedule... and I appreciate the straight talk about Heroquest (getting the trademark is simply one element in making sure they could do publish it IF a lot of other things happen - but there is nothing definite.)

We also managed to win a copy of ThinkFun's Chicken War in a random Twitter drawing... hey, a new game to try - bonus!

Roll for the Galaxy (Orb): I love this slightly longer variant on Roll for the Galaxy (you play to 15 technology & planet tiles)... and this game was no exception. I posted my best score ever at the game... but, to quote James Ingram, "I guess my best wasn't good enough" as Braeden beat me by 16 points. (Related note: I'm a beta tester on the Roll for the Galaxy app - it's really well-done!)

NEOM (solo): The past two Essens have been very good to someone who loves drafting games - NEOM and 7 Wonders: Armada in 2018, It's a Wonderful World in 2019. NEOM has a great packet drafting system for solo games that works really well (as does It's a Wonderful World), so it's kind of my go-to solitaire game right now. I seem to be getting worse and worse at it, though, as I try some "lean into one direction" strategies that don't seem to work as well as I want them to...


DAY THREE: Saturday

The gaming begins in earnest... no live streams, no panel discussions, not even much chatting on the Discord channel. Just playing game after game after game...

Zauberschwert & Drachenei: Playing with all the expansions thrown in (even including Poison, which inevitably got played on me)... this has been a long-time favorite of the boys. It's a weird little Adlung Spiele card game. Players are wizards attempting to defeat larger and larger enemies to amass fame - but the central mechanic is actually an auction to either fight an enemy or build up your tableau to gain power and artifacts. (The name, btw, literally translates Magic Sword and Dragon Egg.) Braeden slaughtered us... even my giant pile of black dragon eggs didn't make up for his awesome store of power.

Vom Kap bis Kairo: Since we were on an Adlung kick, I taught the boys my other favorite Adlung game - an auction/race game about building railroads across Africa. I won... but in fairness, I've played before and the game is quirky enough that an experienced player is likely to win. (Note: other Adlung games I love - Meuterer & Adlungland.) I like the odd mish-mash of auction, press-your-luck, and racing... all packed into 30 minutes or so.

Shards of Infinity (Shadow of Salvation): Shards reminds me of Star Realms... but there are more twists and turns in the design of the cards. The Shadow expansion adds a cooperative mode - so Braeden & I taught Collin to play and dumped him into the cooperative campaign on his first try. As usual, the first boss is interesting but not overwhelming, the second boss was a nail-biter, and the final boss was tough but beatable. I don't think it's the perfect cooperative system for the game, since it truncates building up your shard power, but it's enjoyable every once in a while. (I do think Shards is an excellent 1v1 or 2v2 game... and it's substantially better 2v2 than Star Realms.)

Unmatched: Battle of Legends: Our second battle of the weekend...this time, my Dracula & King Arthur team managed to defeat Bruce Lee (Collin) and Muldoon (Braeden). I think the Baskerville Manor board from the Cobble & Fog box is really clever - the secret passages require you to pay close attention to how quickly you can get boxed in. (Pro player tip: proper use of Merlin - his "sidekick" - is vital to making the King Arthur deck work.)

Bounce-It-In: The only game I own designed by Tupperware. Yes, Tupperware. It's a cute (and easy) dexterity game that we talked my wife into playing - Braeden mopped the floor with the two of us. Sadly, it's very, very OOP... but you can find Hop Hop Hurray pretty easily, which is similar. (The Hop Hop blog post I link to actually good descriptions of this and of Rein damit!, a HABA game with a similar bouncing ball mechanic.)

Race for the Galaxy (Xeno Invasion): Braeden and I play a good bit of Race for the Galaxy - so to keep things fresh, we change expansion decks every once in a while. Last weekend, we switched over to the Xeno deck, which I like. We didn't use the extra Xeno mode (which adds an alien invasion that complicates the game) - we've found it doesn't add much to our 2 player games. (I'd love to try it with 3+ players, though!) I managed to slide by him for a 2 point win.

Jump Drive: Collin's favorite game in Tom Lehmann's Race for the Galaxy universe is Jump Drive, so he and I finished off the day with a head-to-head match. I managed to create an Uplift planet behemoth that took me to my highest 2-player score ever (85) and the win. (You can see my final two turns in the picture...yes, that's 40 points on the final turn. This overwhelming win makes up for the horrible defeat I suffered at his hands a couple of weeks ago.)

DAY THREE: Sunday

The last day (sigh) of GenCan't... which still had a number of games and the conclusion of my Dice Puzzle game (during which one of the entrants managed to identify all 9 dice correctly!).

Unmatched: Battle of Legends: The final game of Unmatched pitted Sherlock Holmes and Sindbad (me) against Alice (Braeden) and the Raptors (Collin). Sindbad managed to do five Voyages, followed by rotating the Voyages back into his hand and putting all seven down - that's hard to beat. Of course, winning against my boys is always satisfying. (BTW, I highly recommend the Cobble & Fog box to Unmatched players... the card play on the majority of the decks is tricky enough that I might avoid it for total newbies, but anyone with experience can have a lot of fun with these very creative decks and interesting maps. For new players, the base box and/or Bigfoot vs Robin Hood is the best starting point.)

Sentinels of the Multiverse: Braeden & I hadn't played this in a while, so out it came. While Marvel Champions has cut into our playing time on this one, they are NOT the same game, nor the same universe. (Credit to Greater Than Games for developing such a rich backstory to their superhero world.) We fought against Plague Rat at the Temple of Zhu Long... Braeden had Void Guard Doctor Medico and Chrono-Ranger (Plague Rat's nemesis) while I ran Freedom Six Bunker and Mister Fixer. We smoked Plague Rat, even while dealing with the denizens of the Temple. Gosh, I love this game.

Baseball Highlights: 2045: I'm not a big baseball fan... oh, yeah, I like going to see a game live, but I don't watch baseball on TV and I'm certainly not obsessed with the sport like I am with college football or Premier League soccer. But Mike Fitzgerald's Baseball Highlights is a spectacular design (even with the oddly disjointed rulebook) and a joy to play - every time. The combination of deck-building/drafting with smooth play is a winner. Braeden & I had a great game, with his L.A. team fighting back from a 3-0 World Series deficit to lose 4-2. 

Cartographers: A Roll Player Tale (solo): I bought Cartographers last fall because it looked like a good roll'n'write to carry with me in my suitcase when I was traveling for business. I was not wrong - it manages to scratch the old map-drawing itch from when I played D&D back in the day and carried around a pad of graph paper in my high school backpack to design dungeons with. At the same time, it's a clever roll'n'flip system that offers interesting choices with a varying set of scoring objectives each game. I've added the Skills expansion and a set of colored pencils... but that doesn't seem to help - my scores are actually getting worse. (But I'm still having fun.)

New Frontiers: This was, bar none, the weirdest game of New Frontiers we've played. We were out of sync, meaning we were taking actions that the opposing player couldn't use. Braeden was building like crazy while I was just accumulating settlers/colonists due to my lack of military power. And then the game turned on a dime and I quickly settled planets and we ran out of colonists. We tied at 19 points each (a VERY low score) and I had more cash left over. 

Parting Thoughts

1. I love the GenCan't vibe. (Thank you, Suzanne!)
2. I didn't realize until I started writing this up that we played ALL of the Race for the Galaxy games this weekend.
3. I'm working on a pretty massive review for the Opinionated Gamers of Unmatched. Watch for it!
4. All the pictures here are taken by me... or one of my boys. Cool filters courtesy of Hipstamatic. 
5. All of the links here are to stuff I've written about these games on my blog... or to reviews from the awesome team at the Opinionated Gamers (which, as you might infer from #2, I write for on a semi-regular basis.)

GenCan't 2020: The Dice Puzzle Answers

This was pretty simple... identify the games that use the custom dice above. 

One participant got all nine correct - congratulations to Chris S.!

Upper left corner: Dice Settlers

• Which, by the way, is an excellent solo game... especially when you add in the Western Sea expansion modules.
• 29% got this one right.

Upper middle: Impact: Battle of Elements

• This is the U.S. reprint of Strike, which is being reprinted yet again with a Harry Potter theme. It’s a fantastic dice-chucking game that has been a hit with pretty much everyone who has played it.
• 12% got this one right... one of the toughest dice to identify.

Upper right corner: Animal Upon Animal

• Best. Family. Stacking. Game. Ever. 
• In a dead heat with Rhino Hero Super Battle (also a HABA game) for best family dexterity game.
• 41% got this one right... even with the gator "smudged" by the camera.

Middle row left: Ghost Fightin’ Treasure Hunters

• Great components and easy-to-learn rules make this an excellent family cooperative game… and it’s pretty brutal. We don’t win very often, so when we do it’s time to celebrate!
• 53% got this one right.

Middle row center: Duelosaur Island

• The two-player version of Dinosaur Island…
• I did accept Dinosaur Island as a correct answer as well. I’m not a monster.
• 76% got this one right... but only 12% had Duelosaur Island.

Middle row right: Sushizock im Gockelwock

• I thought that this would probably be the toughest die to figure out, as the game did not get a big U.S. release.
• This is a cousin to Knizia’s Pickomino (I still like Heckmeck im Brautweck better as a name)… in this one, you are trying to eat sushi while only just enough fish bones.
• 24% got this one right... I was wrong.

Bottom row left: Hit Z Road

• Criminally underappreciated zombie auction game, with some of the most incredible production/graphic design – it’s a game “designed” by a kid who has to take a cross-country trip to dodge the zombie apocalypse and makes a game out of whatever pieces are lying around. The Easter eggs in the design are a lot of fun…
• …but the game underneath all that coolness is really good as well.
• 12% got this one right... and it had the best made-up answer: "Shooty lightning ghosts".

Bottom row center: Powerships

• Again, due to my non-monster status, I accepted Powerboats as a correct answer, since they both use the same die.
• I like Powerships better… a great push-your-luck racing game with nifty twists and actual strategy.
• 35% got this one right... but no one guessed Powerships.

Bottom row right: Roll Player (Fiends & Familiars)

• The most recent custom die in my collection… 
• I think you need one or both expansions to take Roll Player from good to great.
• 18% got this one right.

GenCan't 2020: A Puzzle for Your Enjoyment

This is pretty simple... identify the games that use the custom dice above. 

I'll post the answers tomorrow (August 3rd, 2020).

I ran a contest using this for GenCan't 2020... yes, someone actually got all nine of them correct. This post is just for fun for folks that read my blog.