Let's do it @newsbuff? Do you guys want to start earlier so newsbuff can play more? Or you won't be home anyway since you have board game night, newsbuff?
your 5.1 is set up all wrong. Also, whoa, I've played a few of those and own Battlestar Galactica myself. But game ownership winds up spread out over a few friends. So not one of us has thousands in board games, but all of has have at least a few hundred. Looks awesome fun. I knew you would have tonto cuore.
i don't even know how im supposed to do this Bane Shift. like how do i have wires going all over my living room? get rugs over them or something? seems like a lot of hassle considering i stream low-fi Bane Shift over wi-fi all the time
what do i look like a millionaire? im renting a shite 1 BR apartment in an immigrant neighborhood. i don't even have functioning window blinds
Part of the beauty of audio, if it works for you it's fine. But generally yes, wires through walls/ceiling or wire mold kits work well for concealment. But as you said, low quality and streaming will hamstring the top end of whatever type of audio system you have. But generally 5.1 is best for movies/tv shows/video games. The 5 represents channels(speakers) that a sound is specifically recorded to. Your center/left/right/surrounds will all get a specific sound for things mastered in it. So for music, placement doesn't matter (unless the track is mastered in 5.1) so much as the front left and front right speakers are in fact that. Best way/advice for your front two is to go sit where you listen, then make an equallateral triangle from your seat to the front. Put you speakers at the two corners of the triangle you aren't sitting at. This willl give you the best stereo effect for music (only if you keep it on stereo, and not a multi channel stereo or "party" mode) @Sokolov's picture is an even nicer way to run through the wall Audio is an endless money pit, so be careful.
Since this is a board game thread. I thought I'd share. LoTR Risk Variant Rules Objective This variant does not include the path of the fellowship rules. This is done so that the game plays more like a classic Risk game and less like a simulation of the books. The Ring is not placed on the board at the beginning of the game but rather must be ‘found’ through the course of play. Changes to the adventure cards are designed to make them playable at any time whether you are playing a good or evil army and to minimize some of the more unbalanced effects. Other variant rules are designed to prevent the steam rolling effect that occurs late game in classic Risk which tends to minimize the strategic importance of controlling territory. There will be no monster stacks of armies sweeping the board in a single turn in this variant. The Ring is important and confers various bonuses to the player who controls it but it is not essential for winning the game. Set up Separate the territory cards into good, evil and neutral stacks. Place an army of each color in a cup and have each player draw one randomly. Each player in turn draws 8 territory cards from the good or evil stacks (depending on which color army he picked) and 8 neutral cards. All players then place one army on each of their territories. Count up the number of strongholds and power sites each player controls. The player with the fewest total is player 1 and so forth. In case of a tie the player with the fewest strongholds goes next. If that is a tie then roll a die. Payer 1 places 16 armies on the board, then player 2 and so forth. Player 1 then places another 16 armies on the board and so forth. Finally player 1 places a commander piece on the board and so forth. The Ring is not placed on the board. All 4 colored armies are used each game regardless of the number of players. In a 2 player game each player controls both armies for the good or evil side respectively but takes their turns individually. In a 3 player game one payer plays both evil armies but plays them as a team and the two good players play as the other team. In a 4 player game you can play as good vs evil teams or as a 4 man free for all. Order of play Reinforcement phase: Draw a Power card for every 3 power sites you control (rounded down). If you control every territory in a region you may place the bonus armies in any territory of that region. Your reinforcement armies equal the total number of territories you control divided by 3 rounded down to a minimum of 3 armies. If you do not have a commander on the board you may substitute 3 reinforcement armies for a commander. Only 1 commander unit may be recruited in this way. You may trade in territory sets at this time for additional reinforcement armies. A set consists of 1 of each symbol, 3 of a kind, or any 2 plus a wild card. The value of trade in sets are 3, 6, 9, 12, 3, 6…. If you control any of the territories pictured on the cards of a set you may place 3 bonus armies in that territory. Territory sets may only be traded In during the reinforcement phase. Reinforcement armies may be placed in any territory you control. Combat phase: You may declare any number of combats during your turn against adjacent territories. If you capture a territory you may declare an additional combat against any territories adjacent to the captured territory. The only exception to this is combats across sea lanes. You must capture at least one enemy territory during your turn to earn a territory card. Only 1 territory card may be earned per turn. Armies of different color may not occupy the same territory even in team games. However, you may declare a ‘combat’ against a teammate’s territory in which case he must retreat his force to an adjacent territory he controls. You do not earn a territory card for such an attack and the attacking force may not attack any additional territories that turn. Fortification phase: After all combats have been resolved you may fortify by moving armies from one territory to an adjacent territory. This can only be done once per turn. You may not ‘chain fortify’ across multiple territories. Any force that contains a commander may also fortify to an adjacent territory. This is done in addition to the regular fortify move, however a force that contains a commander may not fortify more than once per turn. If you control the Ring you get a bonus fortify move. You may not fortify across sea lanes. Combat The attacking player may roll 1 die up to 3 total for each attacking army (1 army must remain behind to hold the territory and may not be used to attack). The defending player may roll 1 die up to 2 total for each defending army. Commanders are treated like a regular army. The highest die roll on each side is compared followed by the second highest die roll. Attacking commanders add +1 to the attack die of their choice. Then defending commanders add +1 to the defense die of their choice. The defender then adds +1 to a defense die of his choice if the territory has a stronghold. Then the attacker adds +1 to any attack die for any Power cards in effect. Then the defender adds +1 to any defense die for any Power cards in effect. Finally if a commander has the Ring +1 is added to the attack or defense die of his choice. After all bonuses are applied the highest roll wins, defender wins ties. Repeat until combat is resolved. Atk commander > def commander > stronghold > atk cards > def cards > Ring Once a combat is declared it must be resolved before any additional combats (even against the same territory) are resolved. The attacking player may retreat at any time which ends the combat. If a commander is used in the combat he must be part of the force that captures the territory. You cannot ‘hold him back’ on the final round of combat to prevent this. If a commander with the Ring is defeated the Ring is lost (removed from the board) unless the victorious force includes a commander In which case he claims the Ring. Sea lanes: Attacks may be declared across sea lanes (the dashed lines). Attacks on sea lanes may only be declared against ‘adjacent’ ports. Ports are considered adjacent if a dashed line connects them without hitting another port. The attacking player must place the armies committed to the attack on the sea lane. You may not retreat from a sea attack. You may not fortify across a sea lane. Power Cards All 3 types of adventure cards have been renamed Power cards. You earn Power cards by controlling power sites on the board. During your reinforcement phase you may draw a Power card for every 3 power sites you control (rounded down). Power cards may be played during any phase of any player’s turn at which point they are discarded and their effects applied. Fellowship cards: There are 10 cards that mention the fellowship. The effects described on the cards are ignored as the path of the fellowship is not used in this variant. Instead, once you have 3 fellowship cards you have ‘found the one Ring’! Discard them and place the Ring around one of your commanders. You can only ‘find the Ring’ if you have a commander In play. If the Ring is already in play you may not use your fellowship cards until the Ring is ‘lost’ again (ie the commander wearing it is killed and no other commander can claim it). Mission cards: There are 22 cards that depict a site of power on the board. The effects described on the cards are ignored. Instead, if you or a team mate controls the site of power depicted on the card you may add 3 bonus armies to the territory. If the territory is controlled by an enemy player you may remove 3 armies instead (at least 1 army must remain on the territory). Must be played in recruitment phase. Remainng cards: Event cards no longer have to be played immediately. The effects on the remaining cards are ignored and instead apply the effects as described below. (Entmoot, Cave Troll, Aragorn, and Black Gates) add 3 bonus armies to the stronghold if you or a teammate controls it or remove 3 armies from the stronghold if controlled by an enemy player. (Appoint a Second Leader) place a 2nd commander in any territory you control. If you have no commander on the board you may use this card instead of paying 3 armies to recruit one. You cannot have more than 1 commander on a territory. (Local Uprising) when played during another players recruitment phase he may not gain bonus armies for controlling regions that turn. (Raiders) take a random territory card from another player. (Corsairs) remove 3 armies from an enemy port (at least 1 army must remain). (Winter Storms) current player must end his turn and may not fortify but he may place reinforcements as normal. Must be played during the recruitment phase. (Mustering of Middle Earth) All territories with only 1 army gain an additional army. Must be played during the recruitment phase. (Violent Storms) remove 3 armies from an army attacking across a sea lane. If an attacking commander with the Ring is killed in this way it is lost and not claimed by a defending commader. (Black Sails) add +1 to the combat die of your choice when attacking across a sea lane. (You Shall Not Pass) any attack across a bridge is ended. (Wormtongue) take 2 armies from a defending territory and add them to the attacking force. Does not apply to attacks across sea lanes. Commanders may not be claimed. (Move by Night) you may chain fortify a force up to 3 adjacent territories. (Courage Alone will not Save You) when played during a combat, the attacker wins ties. (Way Under the Mountains) may attack across mountains as described. (Siege Machines) when attacking a stronghold gain +1 to attack die of choice. (Strategic Withdrawl) you may retreat your entire defending force to an adjacent territory you control. The attacking force must claim the territory and may not attack another adjacent terriory. May not retreat across sea lanes. (Ambush) remove 3 armies from an attacking force. (Enemy is at Hand) when defending a stronghold gain an additional +1 to defense die of choice for the entire turn. (Bourne to Another Place) played at any time move a commander to any territory you control. The Ring The Ring is not placed on the board at the beginning of the game and the path of the fellowship is not used. Instead the Ring is ‘found’ by trading in 3 fellowship cards during the recruitment phase. It can only be worn by a commander unit. If the commander is killed in combat the ring is claimed by the enemy commander. If there is no commander in the enemy force the ring is ‘lost’. The Ring adds +1 to the combat die of choice in addition to the commander bonus. A player who controls the Ring may make an extra fortify move each turn. Finally a player who controls the Ring draws a territory card at the end of his turn even if he did not capture an enemy territory.
Axis and allies is my favorite board game, that's a nice collection by the way. I recently purchased sentinels of the multiverse, and pathfinder which is also pretty good. If you wanna play lord of the rings board games get war of the ring.
It looks like one of those games that plays more in the rule book and off the board than it does on the board (if you know what I mean). Plus the board doesn't look very complicated. Just a bunch of squares all adjacent. The LoTR risk board is a lot prettier for one thing but also with all the rivers and mountain ranges the adjacency of the spaces is quite limited resulting in a lot of strategic choke points. Risk combat is a bit simplistic but when I've played more complicated war games the only real difference I've noticed is the amount of time buried in a rule book. I'm with you on axis&allies though. The variant I have on that one is about 10 pages long. For that one I DID want more complexity in the combat. What I like most about both games are the pieces. It's just cool to see a map board full of plastic armies. Stacks of cardboard counters just doesn't cut it.
A&A is ultimate ameritrash game. takes ages to set up, tons of meta knowledge is needed to play "correctly," and everything is a dice fest with tons of RNG. that said, I don't HATE the game.
