Clans

Hello again and thanks for reading yet another post from Kid Superman.  As you can see, this post is about a game called Clans.  This is an simple yet intense strategy game that amazes me because of the literally countless strategies you can take.  It's also very fast!  You could play two games in one hour!  I'll continue down below.

First off, this game takes place in early prehistory where people are finally figuring out that living in groups, or villages, is better than trying to survive on your own.  There are five different clans, or colors (blue, green, red, yellow, and black), and you, as a player, belongs to one of them and therefore wants them to win.  The fun thing is the clan alignments are secret, so nobody knows what clans anyone belongs to except themselves.

Let's get to game play.  The board consists of sixty territories, these territories being one of the four different land types: forest, mountains, savanna, grassland, and plains.  There are also lakes, but clans can't dwell there.  Next, there are 60 individual hut pieces with one of the clan colors painted on it.  At the start of the game, these huts are all on an individual territory.  You can view the game rules below; they are fairly short: http://riograndegames.com/uploads/Game/Game_70_gameRules.pdf

As I said before, the tactics for this game are endless.  Because your color is secret, you don't want to let other players know what your clan color is, but at the same time you want your clan to score the most points.  While you're doing this, you want to make as many villages as possible, but as long as your clan gets points.  It's so overwhelming, but at the same time extremely simple!

But I do have some tips (not including the gaming tips included in the rules).  At the start of the game, I would recommend starting to make a village without your clan color included, but with your color near the village so you can include it later on.  Also, don't just leave villages open for your opponents to make.  Make it hard for them.

Also, review all of the moves you can take, and what might be the best choice to make.  Go over the pros and cons.  Take a risk.  See if you can destroy the other clan colors using strife or putting the village in an unfavorable territory types.  And make sure the last village includes your clan color.  This could make or break the game.

Well, thanks for reading about this game; I hope you enjoy it (if you have it)!  Happy gaming!

-Kid Superman

Legend of the Five Rings (CCG Emperor Edition)

Okay, before I start, I just want to say that this is one of the most intense games I've ever played.  Seriously. I don't even think you want to read this.  If you're not an avid gamer like me, or if you don't know the rules (I would not recommend reading them, unless you absolutely want to play), just continue on; read the next post. I'll be talking to you as if you already know how the game works.

If you don't know yet, Legend of the Five Rings (I'll call it L5R) is a card game, where you are a general or some type of leader of one of the nine clans of Rokugan.  I personally favor the Phoenix clan, but don't let that influence your opinion.

Like I said before, I'm going to act like you already know how to play, so I'll just skip the mechanics of the game.

Anyways, before you even start the game, pick a stronghold that you know works well with not only your cards and/or clan, but with how you yourself play.  Your stronghold is an important aspect of the game; you want its abilities/actions to help you as much as possible in play.

Also, some strategies have abilities affecting only personalities with certain keywords, so make sure some of your personalities have keywords corresponding with those strategies.

Now we can actually get into the game.  When you start, try and buy a lot of holdings, while also bringing in a constant supply of cheap (or expensive if you have enough money) personalities.  Remember you can get a clan discount of the personality you are buying has your clan alignment keyword.

You also don't necessarily need to play any actions, but if they help you, go ahead.  Also, try to have more personalities than your opponent(s).  When you know the time is right (I would qualify this to be having more than ten battle actions ready in your hand and on the table- but hey, circumstances change), go ahead and attack.  Play your most important battle actions first, like destroying/removing your opponents powerful or opposing personalities before they get to yours.  

But before this, while you are deciding what provinces to attack and with whom, strategically place your personalities into different groups so each section has a sufficient amount of force.  That is if you're attacking more than one province; you could always have a giant overwhelming force take over a single province at a time.

Cavalry is also a great option, but make sure the amount of cavalry personalities don't exceed that of non-cavalry personalities.  You want to have them evenly balanced for the best possible outcome.

Finally, try and fulfill the requirements for the rings in your hand, so you can play them for an easier win.

After the battle, if you won, then hooray for you.  If you lost, better luck next time.

On your next turn, if you're playing with only one other person, and you feel like you still have enough personalities to take another province, go ahead.  But try not to kill too many of your personalities every turn.  L5R isn't all about war.  And don't forget about your stronghold abilities!

As the game continues, try and make strategic decisions that will benefit you and your clan.  Watch what your opponent does and plan accordingly.

As you know, there are a couple different ways to win.  Remember the honor victory: you can get this easiest by buying your personalities with your clan alignment keyword without the discount.  Likewise, obtaining the military victory is somewhat simple.

Well, there you go, and thanks for reading yet another piece of insight from Kid Superman.  Happy gaming!

-Kid Superman

Imperial

If your looking for an intense strategy game for you and your friends, look no further!  Imperial is the game for you.  I'll go over the many rules, strategies, and pure awesomeness of this game down below.

 What's great about this game is that there's no chance involved whatsoever.  No dice rolling, no card drawing, just pure skill.  Sweet, right?

There are two separate versions of Imperial.  First, there's just Imperial, which takes place in Europe, and second, there is Imperial 2030, which includes the entire world.  For rules on both, click on the following links:
riograndegames.com/getFile.php?id=26  (Original)
riograndegames.com/getFile.php?id=479   (2030)


So what is Imperial? You might have read the rules, but if you haven't I'll give a basic overview. Basically each player is an investor who controls one or more countries/world powers. The object of the game is to get the most points at the end. You receive points by buying bonds for different countries, investing in the country that you think is going to win.

After a country reaches 25 on the track at the top (you advance from taxing), the game ends and you count up the amount of bonds you have for each country and multiply them by 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, depending on where those countries are on the track. Whoever has the most points wins!

But what is the best way to win? When you break everything down, it always comes to taxation. Taxation is counting up all the territories you control.  You get money, your country gets money, and your country advances on the line.  So you need to tax as much as possible, but also control enough territories so you can actually advance.  It's all about taxation.

Also, I've noticed that the countries that go first always win, because they tax first.  In Imperial 2030, Russia goes first, followed by China, India, Brazil, the USA, and Europe.  During my time playing, Brazil, the USA, and Europe have not won a single game.  So I would recommend buying bonds for the countries that go first.

And, last but not least, sometimes the Swiss Bank is always great to use.  If you don't know what this is, read the rules.  Anyways, if you have the Swiss Bank, you can invest every time someone passes or lands on investor, instead of only when you have the investor card.

Well, thanks for reading, and happy gaming!

-Kid Superman

Munchkin

This is by far one of the funnest yet strangest games I've played.  It never gets old.  You can get cursed by a duck of doom, stab your buddy, steal treasure, and get eaten by plutonium dragons.  And don't forget the unspeakably awful indescribable horror.  I love this game.

The object of the game is to get to level ten.  You do this by killing monsters, selling items and stealing other peoples' levels.  The fun thing about this game is that you never know what's going to happen.  In the last game I played, I was at level 9 and about to win by killing a level 1 lame goblin, when my friends ganged up on me and amped up the lame goblin's power by combining it with a plutonium dragon.


Yes, I got eaten.


What's also fun is that there are approximately 5 million expansions to Munchkin, including a board game.  So you could have like a crazy Munchkin game including all of the cards from the sets you've gotten and just go crazy.  I think.

If you're looking for any strategy, you won't find all that much.  Most of the game is just based on luck: how many monsters and what treasures you draw.  But that doesn't take from the fun at all.

If you're looking for a fast-paced crazy game where you get to sell pretty balloons for no cost, then this game is for you.

- Kid Superman

Nightfall

Nightfall is a game I've only recently just gotten into.  Its about vampires, werewolves, and creatures of the night.  Earth has fallen under a constant reign of darkness, and you must prove yourself the greatest creature of them all.

Nightfall is a deck building game, but it also incorporates an attack phase and creatures.  (Here are the rules: http://www.alderac.com/nightfall/files/2011/02/AEG-NF-Rulebook.pdf.)  The object of the game is to have less wounds than your opponents.  It ends when all the wounds (the amount of players times 10) have been dealt.  You get a wound when creatures attack you (duh).  The only way to obtain creatures and cast spells is to create a chain.

Every card has a big moon in the top left corner and two smaller moons below it.  All of the moons are different colors.  You start a chain by playing a card.  The next card you play's big moon has to match up with one of the previous card's smaller moons.  The cards also have a kicker moon.  If the previous card's big moon matches up with the kicker moon, then the kicker takes effect.  An example is shown below.  After the first player is done with his/her chain, then the next player plays onto the chain.

There is a lot of strategy in this game.  You can do so many things, and each game is never the same.  I recommend watching what you're opponents buy, and then buy cards with the same colors so you can play on them, and hopefully get a kicker.  Also try buying cards that form the best chain and get as many kickers as possible.

Also, sometimes its best to let yourself take some wounds so you don't sacrifice your creatures. In this game, creatures are key.  You need as may of them as possible.  But don't go over the top and never block and take too many wounds, or the game will turn out of your favor.  Judge your blocking wisely, but never hesitate to kill one of your creatures if need be.

This is a great game to play, so go out and buy if you're bored, and don't forget to have fun.

- Kid Superman

Magic: the Gathering

Have you ever heard of the game Magic: the Gathering?  It is a trading card game involving creatures, sorcery, artifacts, and the like.

I've been playing this game for about two and a half years, and it has me hooked.  Every 6 months they come out with a new set of cards for gameplay.  If you want to learn the rules, here's a link: http://media.wizards.com/images/magic/resources/rules/EN_MTGM13_Rulebook.pdf

Here's an example of a card:

This is a creature card, one of my favorites.  It has seven 'attack' and seven 'defense,' which is really good.  It also has a very valuable special power, which you probably don't get unless you know the rules or have played Magic before.  Also shown is the back of the card.





The only problem with Magic is that it's a black hole for money.  They are pretty expensive at stores, and the only way to get them cheap is online.  Since they come out with new cards every month, you want to buy them to have the best and newest cards.  I would recommend selling the cards that are old and you don't need.
   Otherwise, it is an extremely fun game that I recommend to play.  It is often found in gaming stores if you want to buy any.  Happy gaming!

- Kid Superman

Risk: Halo Wars

Risk: Halo Wars has just about the same concept as regular Risk, but instead you have the Covenant, Flood, and UNSC.  If you want to play a new game of Risk but don't want to go deep into crazy rules and drastic changes, then this game is for you.

There are some changes to the regular Risk.  Of course, the board is the same, taking place on the planet Reach.  Each player has his/her own leader, which gives +1 to your highest die roll.  You also have a base which produces 1 troop per turn.

In Risk: Halo Wars, the best strategy is to control a continent.  You usually have a partner (unless you're the flood) who can help you take over.  Once you have your continent bonus, you can go on from there to take out someone's base or control another continent.

Wait until you have a sufficient amount of territory cards, then turn them in for a lot of troops.  If you turn them in at every opportunity you have, it's hard to accomplish your goals.  I like to wait until you have a lot of territories, and then turn them in for 20 or more troops!

This is the best strategy for Risk: Halo Wars.  Try and get as many armies as possible.  I hope it helps!

- Kid Superman

Risk: Legacy

-Description
Risk: Legacy is one of the funnest games I've ever played.  This Risk game places you in the future, where scientists have figured out a way to clone Earth.  The Risk board you get is unmarked- no continents are named.  The territories are basically the same as a normal Risk board of Earth.  This is the fun part- you get to change the board.  You can name your own continents- if you win, put on scars that change the gameplay of the board, and found and name cities.  Awesome.


There are five factions of Risk: Legacy.

Imperial Balkania- A legion of well-trained humans ready to dominate the Earth.
Enclave of the Bear- Savage, primal 'cavemen' who ride on bears (obviously).
Khan Industries- "Guns and people are cheap to make."  That's their motto.
The Saharan Republic- An army of girls who utilize guerilla-like tactics and stay on the move.
Die Mechaniker-  People wearing full-on mech suits specifically used for defense.

What's cool about this game is everyone starts out on one territory.  Just one.  And during your attack phase, you have the option to expand, which is moving at least one of your troops into another empty adjacent territory.  Expanding is important early in the game, as you'll be consolidating your troops for attack and defense.

One of the best strategies is to plan ahead.  As in plan ahead for future games.  You see, when you win you get to change up the board a bit, like naming a continent (which grants you an extra troop if you control it), or fortifying a city, making it easier to defend.  I did this with Australia on my board, and so far I'm the only person who can start in it, and it has some pretty sweet defenses.

Speaking of defense, in Risk I employ a defense strategy that I like to call "The Turtle." You might have already figured this out, but it's best to put all your troops used for defense on your borders.  For example, if I control North America, I really only need to put my troops in Greenland, Alaska, and Mexico.

One of the best strategies for Risk: Legacy is Staking out your own territory, amping it up how you want it, and not letting anyone else use it.  That's what I did, and so far I have signed my name on the board 7 times out of the 15 games I've played.  Awesome, right?  That way you can keep your own red star and aim for others'!

- Kid Superman

Risk

Risk:  A game of strategy utilizing world conquest and objective skills.

Risk.  This is by far one of my favorite games.  You seem like a general of a grand army, hoping to gain world domination.  Risk.

As you should know, there are many different types of Risk games.  Over the years there has been Risk: Star Wars, Risk: The Lord of the Rings, Risk: 2210, Risk: Halo Wars, and others.  But by far my favorite is Risk: Legacy.  Have patience, I will get into most of these later.

Risk.

- Kid Superman

Welcome to Kid Superman

Hello and welcome to Kid Superman.  Thank you for coming to the blog and reading this; hopefully you can enjoy all of the fun posts and our opinions on these games, comics, and more!

Kid Superman is all about our reviews and opinions on various types of games, ranging from intensely strategic to chaotic fun. Here I share my opinion on the game, go through the process of it, and include any strategies and/or tips that will help you with the game you are interested in.

Furthermore, we do reviews on comic books, mainly DC. I'm sorry all you Marvel fans, but hopefully we can get some of those going in the future.

Keep reading to learn more about what you want to know on gaming and comics!

-Kid Superman