Black Gate

Okay, that title doesn’t make any sense. Dungeon delving… on the ocean. You know what that sounds like? Drowning, that’s what it sounds like.

But let’s move on. I’m still processing the four boxes of loot I brought back from the Spring Games Plus Auction and, like a determined CSI agent at a crime scene, putting clues together to determine how I ended up with a copy of Descent: The Sea of Blood.

Let’s say a few words about the basic game, Fantasy Flight’s Descent: Journeys in The Dark, because it came up for auction and … man. Everybody wanted it. Seriously, it was like feeding time at the crazy cat lady house. There were two copies of the long out-of-print first edition and they were way out of my price range. The first, a jumbled box containing the game and all the expansions, sold for $92, and the second, an unpunched set of the first edition only, sold for $130. (If you’re in the market, Amazon still has new copies from a handful of vendors, starting at $289.)

So what’s Descent all about, then? To be honest, I’m a little vague on the specifics, ’cause my copies are still in the shrinkwrap, but I do know it’s one of the most popular of the dungeon-delving board games, which simulate the loot-and-scoot dynamic of Dungeons and Dragons in a more contained setting. (Other examples include Super Dungeon Explore, Castle Ravenloft, Legend of Drizzt, Claustrophobia, Warhammer Quest, DungeonQuest, Tomb, Cutthroat Caverns, and many others. And yes, my copies of those are shrinkwrapped too, so don’t bother asking.)

Descent was originally released in 2007 and designed by Kevin Wilson. It pits an overlord against up to four hero players, who cooperate to complete a range of exciting objectives, like clobbering a sea-monster, or beating down a dragon (going strictly by the box cover art, which is generally a good indicator). For extra collectability — like it needed it — the game shares a setting with Fantasy Flight’s other popular titles, Runewars, Rune Age, and Runebound.

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When you’re a collector, your enemy is the impulse purchase. Unless you’re independently wealthy — or you collect caterpillars or something — you need to budget carefully, and make every purchases count. Your goals are ambitious, and one or two impulse buys can leave a carefully thought-out acquisition plan in ruins.

All this goes out the window at an auction. Auctions are all about the impulse buy. A tantalizing treasure is on the auction block for a scant 15 seconds — just long enough to think, “What the heck is that? Is that the guy from 300, or some kind of Spartan paratrooper? Man, I bet Drew would play this with me. Wonder if you can play the guy with the glowing forehead? Is there a Kraken miniature? It’d be worth the 10 buck opening bid just to get a Kraken miniature. OMG it-must-be-mine” — and then bang, the auction is over, you’re the proud owner something called Mythic Battles, and you’re out seventeen bucks.

Mythic Greece is in chaos: Athena and Hades are at war and have sent their greatest heroes to battle. Take on the role of these generals out of legend, leading fantastic armies and lead your troops to victory!

Mythic Battles is a game which simulates epic confrontations and battles that will take your breath away. Thanks to its innovative system – the Building Battle Board (BBB), which combines game mechanisms from miniature games, board games and card games – Mythic Battles offers you an experience the likes of which you have never seen. Recruit your army, play your cards to activate your units, roll your dice to resolve combat – reinvent your way of playing!

This box contains two complete armies to play with two or four players, an initiation campaign, as well as all that’s required to play as you wish. Other armies and units will periodically be released to flesh out your campaigns.

I bought my copy of Mythic Battles at the Games Plus Spring Auction and so far I’ve been very pleased with it. It was designed by Benoit Vogt and was published by Lello/Play & Win in 2012, with a retail price of $49.99. There have been two expansions: The Bloody Dawn of Legends (2013) and Tribute of Blood (2014). And no — there is no Kraken miniature (I know. What were they thinking?)

All right, so five minutes ago I won a copy of Hordes: High Command at the Games Plus Spring Auction and I’m feeling pretty good. Sure, who wouldn’t? Looks like a sweet game and it’s mine, all mine, thanks to my killer auction skills. That’s right.

And then, before I can even enjoy my victory, the auctioneer calls out the next item up for bid: a brand new, still-in-the-shrinkwrap copy of Warmachine: High Command, starting at the low, low opening bid of one dollar.

Wait, what? Is this the same game? Do I need to own this to play the other one? Come on! I still haven’t figured out the game I just bought. This is why I avoid miniature games, damnit! I’ve only owned it for five minutes and it’s already shaking me down for more money.

Take command and muster the military might of an entire nation to conquer the Iron Kingdoms! Warmachine: High Command is a deck-building card game for 2-4 players set in the steam-powered fantasy world of the Iron Kingdoms. This stand-alone game can be played with just the contents of this box or combined with other Warmachine: High Command products for a customizable experience. Leverage your resources, rally your armies, and dominate your foes to set your banner above all of western Immoren! This box contains game rules and 386 cards, including: 89 Cygnar cards 89 Khador cards 89 Protectorate of Menoth cards 89 Cryx cards 15 Winds of War cards 15 Location cards.

Warmachine: High Command was published by Privateer Press on August 28, 2013. Learn more at the website. It retails for $44.99; I won my copy at auction for $17. Reluctantly. I note that I now own two core sets of a collectible miniatures game and somehow I still don’t own any miniatures. God help me, I’m never gonna figure this game out.

So I’m sitting in the front row at the Games Plus Spring Auction on Sunday, minding my own business, when the auctioneer holds up a brand new, still-in-the-shrinkwrap, copy of Hordes: High Command and starts the bidding at a dollar.

Now, I have no idea what Hordes: High Command is all about, but the box looks pretty neat, with giant monsters and what-not. Plus, a buck. I’m sitting close enough to read the tag line at the bottom: The Game of Strategic Deck-Building Conquest in the Iron Kingdoms, and I know that promises a lot of, uh, deck-building fun… okay, to be brutally honest, I’m not 100% sure what a “deck building” game is. But you learn the art of the quick decision at auction and my card was in the air pretty much the moment I saw the beautiful babe and the monster on the cover.

Well, I won it. Whatever it is, exactly. It’s apparently a stand-alone game that can be played with just the contents of the box or combined with other Hordes High Command products for a customizable experience. Okay, I copied that sentence from the back of the box. But I think it sounds pretty good. I looked up Hordes on Wikipedia, and it’s a “30mm tabletop miniature wargame produced by Privateer Press… [and] designed as a companion to Warmachine.” Cards and collectible miniatures… we’re moving into a terrifying area for me. Thank God the woman on the cover doesn’t look threatening too or I might wrap this in brown paper and hide it in the basement.

Still, I’ve been mightily impressed by Privateer Press over the last decade, especially their Iron Kingdoms stuff, and Wikipedia assures me the game shares the same setting as the Iron Kingdoms — and also that Hordes won the 2006 Origins Award for Miniatures Game of the Year, which is reassuring. There are plenty of intriguing things about the game (like, how come a miniatures game doesn’t come with any miniatures? What’s up with that?)

I think I might delve deeper into the mystery this week. Hordes: High Command was published by Privateer Press on October 09, 2013. The game includes a set of rules and 386 cards and is priced at $44.99. I won my copy at auction for $12, due to mad auction skillz. Learn more at the website.