Doctor Lucky Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 (edited) LONG POST TL;DR is at bottom :happypuppet1 Intro I went to Gen Con in '11 and while I was there I saw a huge line for Puppet Wars. I saw that it was with a bunch of tabletop games and since I wasn't interested in a minis game even though I thought the art was awesome, I went about my business. Boy am I kicking myself now. I could have had 5 months of extra time (plus the additional pre-release puppets) to play this very fun board game. I received Puppet Wars for Christmas from my parents. I am a college student and my family is pretty big into board games. This was the first time I got to see what Puppet Wars actually was and I geeked out. I'm a fan of painting minis, I'm a fan of having a custom team going head-to-head with another custom team, and I'm a fan of Tim Burton ( how can you not look at the art and not cast Johnny Depp as Seamus and H.Bonham Carter as Rotten Belle?) I headed over to the Puppet Wars Website after the holidays and read all the threads- and was sad because I couldn't buy these cool pre-release promo minis.. Teddy, Pokey Vic, Hooded Rider, and Lucius. I headed to Boardgame Geek and saw that very little discussion went on (I shall fix this). I then decided to use my parent's crafty brains (and crafty tools before I headed back to college) and PIMP my Puppet Wars. The Pimp Box! I went to Michael's and bought a basswood box. I cut a groove for the board to sit, added a chain, latch, painted, and added the awesome details using a vinyl machine. I then made a custom insert that has total customization with sewing pins. Puppets! I then began to paint my minis... Bases! I followed these awesome guidlines http://yetischool.blogspot.com/2011/12/getting-board-basing-puppet-wars.html Workbenches! I wanted to make more interesting workbenches. I saw a post by Ratty on the PW forums, but decided that I wanted something easier to make. I got scrabble tiles from a craft store, painted the colors of the workbenches, and then drew on the workbench symbol. Terrain! The puppets are in 3D- why not the stuff they can't walk through? I bought spools and thread and a few things from the doll section at the craft store. Chits! The cardboard chits that came with the game had nice artwork, but pretty flimsy. I glued the chits to the bingo chips that came with the game, and then used a sharpie to edge the white into black. Turn Marker and Wounds! Well I went this far already, might as well keep trucking. I bought a bunch of different colored buttons as wounds and the turn marker. I have used them as they get ripped, but a more thematic way would be to take them off the card. :button1 The Game I played my FIRST game of puppet wars! Don't judge me. I knew that I would like it, I just wanted to make everything pimped out before I played :happypuppet1 The Review Puppet Wars is a very fun, theme soaked, twisted game of war. It is both a board game and a minis tabletop game. Did I mention fun? You take a team and your goal is to beat the stuffing out of the other team(s). There is some pretty intense strategy in this game. For example, selecting your toy box, movement, when to kill your OWN puppets, which puppets to sacrifice for your master to win, which workbenches to take, when to save cards vs playing them, etc.. There is so much, and each topic could have a 5 page article. So just know that there is. Game flow is very fast with an average game time of 30-75 min. The battle system is great with a chance for the defender to 'dodge' and the attacker to match the new defense. If the cards are not in your favor you still have other options. I really enjoy this game. It makes you think of combos and strategies when you aren't even playing! I can't wait to try it with 4 players. The figures are what draw people in (hopefully my box too!) and it is very easy to talk people into playing. I think all types of gamers would like this game. The roleplayer might miss dice, but I think will have plenty of material to keep them happy. The euro gamer will be unhappy with the card draws, but the intense strategy will more than make up for it. The tabletop gamer will complain about the restricted board but will be happy to learn of the price and what you get. The ameritrash gamer will geek out when they see the figures and you might have to take the figures away when you teach the rules. Overall the base game with base components are very good. The price is great for what you get, and the game play is interesting and has fantastic replay-ability. Add even more fun with the boosters and multi-player pack. Add even more fun by pimping everything out like me The War Report So I've never done this part. But the Facebook page told me to do it to get a chance to win! I am also going to be linking this to the BGG Puppet Wars page! More people need to know about this game! I have demoed it with different groups of my friends and my family, they have enjoyed playing! So here it goes. In images with captions. Because I'm worn out from typing. For the pictures I de-cluttered the table as best I could. I'm not a photographer but I tried to make them look good. 20 min. mark DING DONG!!! "Hello! Please sign here!"..."MY PUPPET WARS BOOSTERS CAME!!!!" Seriously. This happened while we were playing. And it was awesome. Lady J's crew is advancing. Not many scrap box items were attached to Seamus's crew because of this. Seamus's crew is getting the stuffing kicked out of them Lady J vs a half-dead Seamus! Back into the box WITH NEW FRIENDS! Everything fits! What a crazy happenstance! 48 puppets! With room for...gee I dunno a Pokey Vic or Hooded rider and a maybe a Teddy for going above and beyond *whistle* In the future boosters, I can remove my buttons, workbenches, and chits, put them in bags and put another 13 puppets there. After that, I will have to get creative with attaching the spools to the inner lid and putting more puppets there. All the decks fit too! The End. Thank you for reading, if you like my micro-pimps or have any comments, please leave me a note below! TL;DR Puppet Wars is a good game, I pimped my copy, I played it a bunch, I wrote a battle report in images for the contest. Check it out. Edited January 24, 2012 by Doctor Lucky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePandaDirector Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 Probably the best report I've ever read, great job on.. well everything I also love how enthusiastic you are, I've been playing since pre-Gencon and haven't realised the kind of ambitious creativity you display here. Even if you don't win you deserve a prize for some great work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 I love your box and terrain. That's awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistercactus Posted January 14, 2012 Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 Nice write up. You and I think alike - I picked up some thimbles and spools the other day to act as terrain for when I finish painting and get a game in. Consider the button idea stolen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brence Posted January 14, 2012 Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 Probably the best report I've ever read, great job on.. well everything I also love how enthusiastic you are, I've been playing since pre-Gencon and haven't realised the kind of ambitious creativity you display here. Even if you don't win you deserve a prize for some great work. Seconded! Just reading about it got me all psyched to play! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Lucky Posted January 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 Thanks guys! Played with some of the new puppets for the first time today (2 player) holy crap do they add a lot of awesome combos. Had a ton of fun, can't wait to play again! :happypuppet1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karn987 Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 Nice write up! I love that the Boosters showed up while play to haha But that box is awesome! Simple yet effective. Nicely done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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