Starting out Puppet Wars

[Zombie]

I also realized that it doesn't cost that much for standard boardgame, saw puppet wars for ~60e in one place and I'm used for Fantasyflightgames prices... Well let's hope my girlfriend likes this game too then - last time she's been enthustiastic only about Race for the Galaxy.

[Hugor]

I would have to agree with Panda on all counts, but I may be biased as Puppet Wars is my FAVORITE game, and I too play a lot of games.

Just to add on to what he said, Puppet Wars is extremely balanced in that everything that is "broken" (for lack of a better term) has something that is equally broken coming to kill it. I often compare it to Munchkin (if your familiar with that game) in that all characters are or can be overpowered. So, in the words of The Incredibles "Everyone's special, Dash" Dash grumbles, "Which is another way of saying no one is." And it is true. Of every upsetting combo or ability that has been mentioned, there are dozens of ways to get around it.

As for Masters, like Panda said, there are differences between them, but it is not a strength (one always wins) it is more of a play style. Seamus (which comes in the starter box) and Marcus are the most balanced between buffing their puppets, making attacks, and de-buffing the other teams. In my opinion they are the most enjoyable to play. Pandora (who needs to work really well with her team and has some learning curve) is more about de-buffing the other team and maintaining board control (She and Marcus come in the multiplayer pack). Lady Justice is good at making the final attacks and buffing her team, making their attacks and damages even better. (She comes in the starter box) Finally, Pokey Vik (who is currently a special) is all about assassinating the other master, more or less on her own. So, each has their own play style, and you will probably find some more enjoyable than the other. But, they can all win...and I have won with them all on several occasions, and have been beaten by them all.

As for the suites / factions, as I said above, this game allows you to take puppets from any faction you want, which really adds to the balance. Yes, there is a bonus for taking puppets from your master's faction (ignore the suite in animation cost), but getting the benefits from another faction often outweighs this (Nurse [crows] can remove effects and counters, Witchling Stalker [rams] can sew up rips, December Acolyte [tomes] can provide extra cards and pick upgrades instantly when in range of the torn apart puppet. This is especially noticeable when you start thinking taking the out of suite puppet as an upgrade (using "What Pretty Buttons You Have" which allows the master to tear up a puppet in the toybox and draw two cards, which makes the upgrade instantly available for a puppet to pick up).

As for having to buy multiple sets, I find that I am the one who owns the game, and I bring it out to play. I have everything, because I fell in love with the game and the minis and wanted to paint everything. As the community is growing, some people are buying their own stuff (because they want to paint the minis, play at home, or whatever) others are just playing with mine.

Either way, I think it is a great game. As Panda said, the Wyrd staff has been awesome about listening to comments and concerns. The game is the first of its kind and is still in its infancy, and will only get better as more additions are released.

---------- Post added at 10:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:40 AM ----------

Zombie, as far as price is concerned, you're right it is similar in pricing to a lot of the other board games out there. More importantly, the miniatures are legal proxies for malifaux. So, if you are interested in that as well, you can always pop the mini in a larger base, download the malifaux stat cards (http://www.malifaux.com/Downloads.php) and try a game of malifaux as well, making the investment that much more worth it.

[AntiZombie]

Thanks for the answers folk and saddly I'm nowhere near USA or UK - I'm living in Finland

Can someone counter-argue some of the things in this review: http://handcannononline.com/blog/201...wars-a-review/

I was scared off by these points:

''Also, even though the packs are not randomized there is still an element of collectibility in this game. There is a chase Teddie pawn that can be found once in every 10 booster packs. There are 5 different versions of this character too.'' Oh my, this sounds pretty... horrid...

''One thing that I find tragic about this game is that it really requires each individual to have their own collection of miniatures. It is difficult for two people to open the box and simply start playing since there is only a certain amount miniatures available between the two of them.'' This put suspicions on the basic boardgame box, will it truly be enough then?

''There are also a few figures that seem to be slightly off-balance. Some are very powerful and some very week. Normally you could just say hey that’s how things go, but the differences are notable and sometimes they apply to the master puppets themselves. This causes for unfortunate disparities between the suits/factions.'' I know that all miniature games have inbalances but how bad this actually is, or is the writer here mistaken?

.

HEy I am actaully the author of that article. If you look around on hadncannon there is a part two of that article too that address those concerns. I have played A LOT of puppet wars much to my suprise. I can honestly say it is a good game. Drafting has turned out to be a fine way to play. However, it does help to buy a few pawn packs just for variability and replayability. LIke the second half of the article says the game really does require quite a few plays before you unlock all the majesty that is puppet wars. The teddy thing isnt all that big a deal as they are not the power pieces. Plus in terms of the few peices that are off balance, I can say with confidence that Wyrd is fixing it and listening to all concerns. There are no real limited minis aside form the teddies and they were available online in a 5 pack during last black friday so wyrd may do it again.

CHeck here for the second half of the article http://livininagamerparadise.blogspo...1_archive.html
It was published on hand cannon too.

[ThePandaDirector]

Article by AntiZombie puts off Zombie, Zombie doesn't buy boardgame, AntiZombie convinces Zombie to buy boardgame, Zombie buys boardgame.

And people say we can't all get along =]

[Zombie]

Yeah, I chuckled a bit when noticed his user name :D

Well things are looking well and I'll put tomorrow an order and hope that the mailman brings it quickly - I'll probably be able to witness once again how silly it is that when you order something from UK it comes faster than something which you order from here in Finland...

[ThePandaDirector]

I bought my PW sets during Gencon, took like 4 1/2 weeks to get to the UK from the US... longest wait of my life =]

Just make sure you're stocked up on super glue and paint, you'll be able to play a game with most puppets straight out the box, but there's still flash to clip and some are in multiple pieces (Nurse, Executioner).

Hope you and your girlfriend enjoy yourselves, be sure to let us know how your first games go =]

[Zombie]

// Thread Necromancy Commence //

Yay, my puppet wars has been shipped and is coming to icy north now (though...it's sunny outside... +4 celsius... but it's darn icy and slippery !). I actually had something to ask even; does anyone sleeve their puppet wars gaming cards? I've sleeved all my boardgame cards but I wonder do these need any? I just don't want 'em to wear down so much that you can guess which card is which (like we did in highschool when we played poker...).

[Hugor]

The puppet war cards themselves are plastic, and have held up well for me thus far, so not sure if sleeveing them a necessary.

[karn987]

Yeah I'm with Hugor, you don't really need to sleeve them. They are prelaminated for your enjoyment and rather durable, so it all depends on how rough you and your group are with handling them.

You certainly won't lose anything by Sleeving them (though they are an akward size!), but I don't really think you need to. Wet Erase marker wipes right off.

[ThePandaDirector]

I have all my stat cards (form all sets) in the single sleeve they come in with the starter box