Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.

7151

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Dominion: Jumanji

« on: August 09, 2012, 08:34:44 pm »

More than any other expansion, I'm really visualizing what these cards are doing.  I can really imagine Graverobbers going at the trash pile with their shovels.  So I could totally see, once we finally get a physical copy, this expansion coming to life like Jumanji.  Play Rats, and a horde of rodents come pouring out of the walls.  Play Pillage, and the Capital One barbarians charge at your house.  Play Hermit, an old man comes and digs around in your trash.  You get the idea.

7152

Dominion General Discussion / Re: When durations are better

« on: August 09, 2012, 08:31:15 pm »

Most of the Durations are insanely powerful.  I always buy Fishing Village over Silver, particularly if there's an engine I like on the board.  True, playing four Lighthouses doesn't do too much for you this turn, but next turn, all you need are two Silvers, and there's your Province.  Fishing Village, Lighthouse, and to a lesser extent Merchant Ship (since it's terminal), all add up.  Throw in Wharf and Caravan, and you're buying Provinces every turn.  Sure, the benefit is spread out, but it's skewed in such a way that it's amazing on your next turn.  Tactician takes this to the extreme by destroying your current turn, and making your next turn the best ever.  So really, I can't think of any instance where I'd refrain from buying FV, Caravan, LH or Wharf.  Tactician, Outpost and MS are a bit more specialized, and I wouldn't acquire them 100% of the time, but they're still powerful.

7153

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Re: Dark Ages Preview #4: Rats, Pillage, Spoils

« on: August 09, 2012, 07:54:44 pm »

I believe in Pillage we finally have a time where Council Room is strictly better than Margrave. 

7154

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Re: The Feel of Dark Ages

« on: August 09, 2012, 07:43:19 pm »

Better than Remodelling those Rats into a Harem...

DANCE OF THE RAT WHORES

*ting ting ting*

7155

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Re: The Feel of Dark Ages

« on: August 09, 2012, 07:41:38 pm »

not to mention use them or trash them for benefits!

"I'll trash this Squire."

*stab stab stab*

"I'll forge these Rats into a Province."

*forge lady smelting rats together*

7156

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Re: So.. many.. piles..

« on: August 09, 2012, 06:08:04 pm »

A heaven for fairgrounds (and there are 4 5 ruins to further sweeten the deal)!

With the strikeout, it looks like "45".  You may want to put a space there.

7157

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Re: Dark Ages Preview #4: Rats, Pillage, Spoils

« on: August 09, 2012, 04:57:03 pm »

Ok, someone out there is going to know this off the top of their head, probably:

How many TFB cards are there (anything that would make you consider buying Rats)?
vs
How many Discarding cards are there (anything that would make you consider buying Tunnel)?

Basically, what I want to know is, if we assume that Rats is only good for the TFB thing, will it be a completely dead Kingdom card more or less often than Tunnel? (Discounting the 2VP instead of 1VP for an Estate in the end-game).

Well, we still don't have a consensus on how often Tunnel is worth it, do we? Some people still insist it's worth getting almost all the time, while others (like me) think it's probably worth it less than 30% of the time. I imagine Rats can easily exceed the 30% number. We also still don't know how many TfBs there are going to be among the 26 yet-to-be-revealed Dark Ages cards...

Well sure, but what I meant wasn't so much how often is it a good idea to buy, but rather how often is it not just a completely dead card? Spy / Tunnel is probably a really crappy combo, but I would still count that as a time that Tunnel is a playable card. If there is nothing on the board that has potential to discard, then buying a Tunnel is like buying an Estate. Same with Rats. Rats/Forge may or may not be a good combo, but at least if Forge is on the board, Rats is technically an option.

Well if you consider Spy/Tunnel playable, Rats is always "playable", just like Scout/Estate....

Hey now, Scout+Tunnel+Vault/secret chamber may just be the best combo out there. </not sarcasm>

FTFY

7158

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Re: Dark Ages Preview #4: Rats, Pillage, Spoils

« on: August 09, 2012, 04:54:37 pm »

Ok, someone out there is going to know this off the top of their head, probably:

How many TFB cards are there (anything that would make you consider buying Rats)?
vs
How many Discarding cards are there (anything that would make you consider buying Tunnel)?

Basically, what I want to know is, if we assume that Rats is only good for the TFB thing, will it be a completely dead Kingdom card more or less often than Tunnel? (Discounting the 2VP instead of 1VP for an Estate in the end-game).

Well, we still don't have a consensus on how often Tunnel is worth it, do we? Some people still insist it's worth getting almost all the time, while others (like me) think it's probably worth it less than 30% of the time. I imagine Rats can easily exceed the 30% number. We also still don't know how many TfBs there are going to be among the 26 yet-to-be-revealed Dark Ages cards...

Well sure, but what I meant wasn't so much how often is it a good idea to buy, but rather how often is it not just a completely dead card? Spy / Tunnel is probably a really crappy combo, but I would still count that as a time that Tunnel is a playable card. If there is nothing on the board that has potential to discard, then buying a Tunnel is like buying an Estate. Same with Rats. Rats/Forge may or may not be a good combo, but at least if Forge is on the board, Rats is technically an option.

7159

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Re: Dark Ages Preview #4: Rats, Pillage, Spoils

« on: August 09, 2012, 03:43:40 pm »

Develop!  Now the best $3, thanks to Dark Ages!

I think I might put Develop as #2 (also depending on yet-to-be-revealed cards), but the card that keeps standing out in my mind with many of these strategies is Watchtower. It has become a must-buy with so many of the self-trashing benefits. But, yes, Develop looks pretty nice with a lot of these new cards.

Well, Watchtower was always good.  Develop went from "Oooh cool 2 cards for 1!" to "Ew it topdecks them and it's slow and trashers are supposed to make your deck SMALLER" to "Hmm this combos well with Dark Ages..."

Maybe Develop should have come out in this set...

7160

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Re: What about thrashing and possessed hands?

« on: August 09, 2012, 03:39:17 pm »

Well, even spoils can run out, though it's only temporary until they get played.

It would be funny to KC Pillage a bunch to get all the spoils, then KC-island enough to hide all the spoils away on the island mat not particularly practical, but funny.

Some men just want to watch the world burn.

It would count toward Gardens.

Ooo, and Fairgrounds!

7161

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Re: Self-Referencing Cards

« on: August 09, 2012, 03:35:39 pm »

Man, you guys will make lists out of ANYTHING

7162

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Re: Dark Ages Preview #4: Rats, Pillage, Spoils

« on: August 09, 2012, 03:33:48 pm »

I think part of the idea of rats is that they can be used as weapons too. Use Masquerade or Ambassador to hand them over to another player, preferably one who is using Throne Room or Golem and may end up being forced to play them. Or swindle their $4s into Rats.

People say this, but guys, realize you can choose to NOT play the rats. In which case, they're slightly better confusions. And nobody buys CURSES to masq over, let alone these, and as for ambassador - well, gee, if you've already done the curses, have 4 money and a buy to spend on one of these, I guess you can do that, but uh, well, shouldn't you be busy winning the game instead?

Swindler to give them Rats is a fair point, though.

7163

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Re: What about thrashing and possessed hands?

« on: August 09, 2012, 03:31:15 pm »

Well, even spoils can run out, though it's only temporary until they get played.

It would be funny to KC Pillage a bunch to get all the spoils, then KC-island enough to hide all the spoils away on the island mat not particularly practical, but funny.

Some men just want to watch the world burn.

It would count toward Gardens.

7164

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Re: Kingdoms that you want to play with new DA cards

« on: August 09, 2012, 03:08:29 pm »

Okay, so after seeing the new DA cards, I have been thinking about various setups I would like to play. So far, my dream set up is this.

Colony/Platinum: Yes

1) $1: Poor House
2) $2: Squire
3) $2P: Scrying Pool
4) $3: Fishing Village
5) $4: Rats
6) $5 Mountebank
7) $5 Cultist
$5 Graverobber
9) $6 Goons
10) $7 King's Court

So, what are some kingdoms that you thought of that you are dying to try?

Poor House is going to be terrible.  Your only Treasure trasher is Rats, and Mountebank is in play.

7165

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Re: Sage Jokes

« on: August 09, 2012, 03:06:48 pm »

Sage skips Spoils - the UN does not recognize territory gained through conquest.

7166

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Re: Dark Ages Preview #4: Rats, Pillage, Spoils

« on: August 09, 2012, 03:03:53 pm »

Rules question:  when you use a trash for benefit on a card that has a benefit when trashed,  which benefit happens first?

Eg: your hand contains a rat, a remodel, and a watch tower.  You remodel the rat into a gold and reveal the watch tower to put it on your deck.  Do you get the +1 card for trashing the rat before or after gaining the gold?

Remodel has two steps:
1) Trash a card.
2) Gain a card.

The +1 Card effect from Rats is simultaneous with step 1) from Remodel.

So, you Remodel the Rats.  Rats is trashed, draw 1 card.  Gain a Gold, Watchtower it to your deck.

7167

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Re: Self-Referencing Cards

« on: August 09, 2012, 02:53:23 pm »

Oh, how I wished Goons referenced itself. "If you have any Goons in play, when you buy a card, +1 VP."

You don't like the stacking effect of playing multiple Goons?

7168

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Re: Dark Ages Preview #4: Rats, Pillage, Spoils

« on: August 09, 2012, 02:49:51 pm »

Nah, you guys are missing the beauty of rats.  Rats are not really trashers -- every card that's trashed is replaced with a rat.  But rats do temporarily turn all your trash cards into cantrips, at least until you start to run low on trash targets.  But even if it's only for a couple of shuffles, having cantrips instead of dead cards could be exactly the help you need to get to your real trasher.  And, as a bonus, when you do trash the rats, you get some cards, though you'll probably be drawing dead since most trashers are terminals.

The point is, you obviously need an actual trasher in conjunction with rats, but rats grease the wheels for you: they cycle your deck, putting that trasher in your hand more often.  I think this will allow you to clear garbage from your deck much faster than normal.

Except that if you're doing this, you may be forced to trash the trasher as soon as you draw it.

That's if you let your deck clog up with Rats.  If you draw a hand with 5 rats, you may as well resign.

7169

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Re: Dark Ages Preview #4: Rats, Pillage, Spoils

« on: August 09, 2012, 02:22:10 pm »

Somewhere in Dominion there has to be a variant on the old proposition about cat skins being worth money, so they'll breed cats.  And feed them rats, which breed rats.  To feed the cats they'll feed them the rats, and the rats will eat the cats (minus the skins) so they'll get the cat skins for nothing.

Perhaps Develop is that scheme.  You get Rats and the Rats multiply.  So you Develop the rats into a Duchy (profit!) and a cost costing $3.  What do you feed the Rats?  Why the card costing $3 you got for free when you killed the Rat and went along with your profit (Duchy).

Develop!  Now the best $3, thanks to Dark Ages!

7170

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Self-Referencing Cards

« on: August 09, 2012, 02:13:34 pm »

I think we have a record in this expansion for cards that mention themselves on themselves - Madman, Spoils, Rats and Cultist all do this.  Actually, do any other cards in the other sets reference themselves?  All I can think of are Transmute and Golem...

7171

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Re: What about thrashing and possessed hands?

« on: August 09, 2012, 01:33:26 pm »

Well there's no thrashing mechanic in Dominion. I'm going to assume you mean trashing.


So while possessing, everything that happens, happens to the player being possessed. The only exception is that when he gains a card it goes into your discard pile, and after his turn is done any cards that were trashed go back into his discard. So if you possess someone and trash a cultist, he gets the +3 cards, which is ok since you are still possessing him. If he gains a madman for example, you gain it instead.

Ok, sorry for the misplaced 'h'.

All I wanted to show is that 10 madman cards are not enough. There are situations where you may need more than 10 simultaneously.

Just debugging

When you have all 10 of any other pile simultaneously, the pile runs out.  That's the beauty of physical card games - nothing is infinite (except for Spoils in Graverobber/Pillage games).

7172

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Re: Dark Ages Preview #4: Rats, Pillage, Spoils

« on: August 09, 2012, 01:32:10 pm »

I'd like to see what Lord Bottington does with Rats.  Better yet, I want Robz to write a diary entry about it.

7173

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Re: Dark Ages Preview #4: Rats, Pillage, Spoils

« on: August 09, 2012, 12:24:43 pm »

Hermit + Scheme = Yes!

Spoils + Herbalist = No!

I mean, you can't Scheme a Madman, either.

7174

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / New Cards In Toto

« on: August 09, 2012, 12:14:39 pm »

Figured it might prove... instructive?  To take a look at all the new cards as they would be in the diehrstraits spoilers site.  Maybe we'd see some new connections.

7175

Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Re: Dark Ages Preview #3: Squire, Hermit, Madman

« on: August 09, 2012, 11:58:57 am »

And this is why new players should avoid Hinterlands and Dark Ages at ALL COSTS.  Particularly the combination of the two.