Author Topic: Dominion Expansions to Buy?  (Read 11568 times)

Offline Captain Kirk

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Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« on: January 15, 2013, 04:33:55 PM »
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I absolutely love Dominion. I learned on Intrigue and bought Base a few months back. Someone in my playgroup has Intrigue.

What expansions should I buy next and why? I believe I should look at Prosperity and Seaside next from what I have heard. Or should I get Intrigue myself first?

Also, what size card sleeves have you found to fit in Dominion boxes (if any)? Do Yu-Gi-Oh size fit?

Thanks,
Kirk
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Offline soul seeker

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #1 on: January 15, 2013, 05:01:49 PM »
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Definitely buy prosperity if you have the money. Cornucopia is fun but may not be worth the money because of so few kingdom cards.

Avoid Alchemy, it is an awful set.  I have played every set but Dark Ages because of a program on my tablet.
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Offline Prof Underwood

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #2 on: January 15, 2013, 05:57:12 PM »
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I agree that Prosperity is the best one to go for at this point.  I also agree that Alchemy is lame.  Seaside is in the middle.

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Offline JSB23

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #3 on: January 15, 2013, 06:07:32 PM »
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I liked alchemy quite a bit, but which sets you buy depends on what kind of game you want to play.

Intrigue is generally far more cutthroat, with some nasty attack cards and actions that screw with your opponents' decks, at the cost of losing some economic options.

Seaside is all about the long term, with cards that give you small bonuses immediately, and on your next turn. The downside is, there's very little that helps you right away, which means you're in for some long games and sloggy turns.

Prosperity is the opposite of Intrigue, only a few attacks and player interaction cards, and a lot of economic options. The downsides are twofold, a prosperity only game can easily become a game of multi-player solitaire, and the power curve is so high that it kinda wrecks the previous sets. That being said, it's a lot of fun to play.
« Last Edit: January 15, 2013, 06:56:36 PM by JSB23 »
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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #4 on: January 15, 2013, 06:16:40 PM »
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Really enjoying Prosperity right now, though I agree with JSB that it doesn't have as much interaction, so it's great to mix with sets like Intrigue.

Offline Bryon

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #5 on: January 15, 2013, 08:27:13 PM »
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I really like Hinterlands, as many cards give you immediate rewards as you buy them.  It feels a lot less clunky than Seaside.

I do like Prosperity, too.

Kurt is a big fan of Dark Ages, and it can be fun.  It has tons of new cards.  Great trash cards and interations with the trash pile.  Rats are a riot.

Avoid the small expansions for now - especially Alchemy.

Offline CJSports

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #6 on: January 15, 2013, 08:32:57 PM »
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If you can, buy them all. It is that good. Alchemy is fairly lame but it's still worth getting. I enjoy Dark Ages and it gives a huge amount of new cards.
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Offline Isildur

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #7 on: January 15, 2013, 09:39:47 PM »
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Bryon and JSB both explained the pros and cons of the sets pretty well.

If your content with using the playgroup copy of Intrigue... then Prosperity or Dark Ages will get you the most fun. Both Sea Side and Hinterlands are good but they arent adding really that much that is "new" outside of the orange cards when compared to the other sets.
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Offline YourMathTeacher

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #8 on: January 15, 2013, 11:23:11 PM »
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Well, so far you guys have not led me astray, so I may have to try this game as well. I bought Settlers of Catan and Shadows Over Camelot after hearing about them from you guys, and our playgroup plays them regularly.

So for this Dominion game... what is a good price for them? They're all over eBay, but I'm not sure how they compare to other outlets. I got my Shadows & Expansion on eBay for $25 each. The Schaef hooked me up with Settlers and all expansions through his store. Does anyone know if he still sells games, particularly Dominion? Is anyone selling their collection here?

What do I need to play? Do I have to have the original first (like Settlers)? Are any expansions stand alone?
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Offline Master KChief

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #9 on: January 15, 2013, 11:28:46 PM »
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I have also heard many good things about this game and would love to learn how to play.
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Offline SiLeNcEd_MaTrIx

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #10 on: January 15, 2013, 11:45:54 PM »
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Very interested now myself, what is a good price on this game?
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Offline Master KChief

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #11 on: January 16, 2013, 12:02:24 AM »
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Looks like the cheapest BIN on eBay is $37 for the base set, for reference.
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Offline Isildur

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #12 on: January 16, 2013, 12:07:15 AM »
+1
assuming you have free shipping you can get it for about $32 on Amazon
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Offline Prof Underwood

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #13 on: January 16, 2013, 12:19:38 AM »
+1
Well, so far you guys have not led me astray, so I may have to try this game as well. I bought Settlers of Catan and Shadows Over Camelot after hearing about them from you guys, and our playgroup plays them regularly.
If you guys liked those two games, then I think you'll like Dominion as well.  The other two games that I think would be most enjoyed by your group are Ticket to Ride (everyone for themselves like Settlers) and Pandemic (co-op game like Shadows).

Both are are the same level of difficulty, and are tons of fun :)

Offline TimMierz

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #14 on: January 16, 2013, 08:40:41 AM »
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What do I need to play? Do I have to have the original first (like Settlers)? Are any expansions stand alone?

You could start with either Dominion (the base game) or Dominion: Intrigue (the first expansion). The base game cards are generally more straightforward, and the Intrigue cards offer more decisions and options. There is no overlap in kingdom cards with those two - they both include the basic always-available stuff you need, but otherwise are unique products. You can certainly play with just one or the other (or both!) and have plenty of interesting games without needing other expansions. But if you do want expansions...

I've never understood why people dislike Alchemy. It offers a new type of currency (potions) used on the cards in that set, which offers some new decisions about whether to bother with that currency, which can access really powerful cards or just be dead weight. Some of my favorite cards (Apprentice, Golem, University) are from Alchemy! But I'm nearly alone in that assessment, for whatever reason.

Seaside is a great first expansion. The complexity is not that much of a step up, but there are more decisions during card play that reach beyond the current turn. Dark Ages and Hinterlands have more complex interactions; while they're great for more experienced players, I would not recommend them to a newcomer. Prosperity is cool, but the designer himself recommends not getting that as the first expansion, because then the introduction of Platinum and Colony is less special. I would steer clear of Cornucopia and Alchemy at the start just because you'll get fewer cards at only a minor price difference. The cards in both are certainly enjoyable (I'm a fan of Jester and Farming Village especially), but you get less raw quantity and therefore less variety.

Enjoy! It's the board game besides Malta! that I've played the most, and I don't regret it one bit.
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Offline Bryon

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #15 on: January 16, 2013, 10:08:42 AM »
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I've really enjoyed Dominion over the last couple years.  If you like Dominion and Marvel comics, you should try Legendary.  It is expensive, but certainly fun enough to be worth the $.

Offline Captain Kirk

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #16 on: January 16, 2013, 01:04:42 PM »
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To Tim, John, and Kyle,

I know you would all love Dominion. I don't know how I missed out on it for the past few years. $32 w free shipping on Amazon is the best I have seen (as Brandon mentioned).

To all who weighed in,

Mixed feedback as I imagined. So it sounds like Prosperity, Dark Ages, Hinterlands, and Seaside are all good ideas. I have played at least 30 games of Dominion so I would not shy away from advanced sets.

Kirk
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Offline Captain Kirk

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #17 on: January 22, 2013, 11:23:45 AM »
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I received Intrigue for my birthday and a $50 Amazon gift card. With that in mind, if I can pick up 2 more expansions (to add to Base and Intrigue), what pairing of 2 would y'all recommend? I am wondering if Prosperity and a more complex one (Hinterlands or Dark Ages) is the way to go.

Kirk
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Offline YourMathTeacher

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #18 on: January 22, 2013, 03:02:11 PM »
+1
I would recommend buying another base set and sending to yourself through my address.
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Offline JSB23

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #19 on: January 22, 2013, 04:52:10 PM »
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I am wondering if Prosperity and a more complex one (Hinterlands or Dark Ages) is the way to go.
I'd suggest Prosperity  and Seaside.
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Offline Prof Underwood

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #20 on: January 22, 2013, 05:06:17 PM »
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I'd suggest Prosperity  and Seaside.
I agree with this.  I love Prosperity, and the whole affecting future turns aspect of Seaside appeals to my strategic side :)

Offline Bryon

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #21 on: January 23, 2013, 04:06:42 AM »
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I agree with Prosperity.  I prefer Hinterlands to Seaside.  Both are fun, but they are kind of opposites.  Hinterlands gives extra rewards right when you purchase cards.  Seaside gives extra rewards the turn after you play the card.

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #22 on: July 20, 2015, 10:16:08 AM »
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Sorry to necropost but it seemed better than starting a new thread.

This weekend I was at a game store and decided it was high time I picked up the Dominion base set. I've played a few games with others and some online and very much enjoy the strategy and plethora of different ways to play (As far as different sets of cards to use).

It seems like everyone suggests Intrigue be the second one to get, but I'm wondering if anyone has a full list of all the expansions and maybe a suggested guide through buying into them? I can't buy anything else right now, but over time I'd like to know which ones to add to my collection.

From the above comments I'm getting something like this to start:
1. Intrigue
2. Prosperity
3. and 4. Seaside and Hinterlands in any order
5. ???

Any thoughts/suggestions for after that?

Offline Josh

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #23 on: July 20, 2015, 11:57:30 AM »
+1
Here are the expansions I know of:

Intrigue
Seaside
Alchemy
Prosperity
Cornucopia
Hinterlands
Dark Ages
Guilds
Adventures

Of these, I've purchased all but Cornucopia, Guilds, and Adventures.  Cornucopia did not have great reviews online, and is a smaller expansion (hence why you can find it cheaper).  Guilds and Adventures are newer, and from what I can tell, they are more complex. 

If you want to buy these in order of complexity (easier to more complex), I'd recommend this order (based only on the 6 I've purchased):
1. Seaside
2. Intrigue (although it's about the same level as Seaside)
3. Prosperity
4. Hinterlands
5. Alchemy
6. Dark Ages

If you want to know my ranking of expansions in terms of playability and enjoyability, I'd rank like this (most fun to least fun):
1. Prosperity
2. Intrigue
3. Seaside
4. Dark Ages
5. Hinterlands
6. Alchemy

I can give more detailed opinions on these if you want.  I haven't played much with the bottom 3 on this list, so maybe I need to get more experience with them.  Also, Alchemy is an extremely small expansion, and basically needs to be played with another expansion (or the base game).  Just something to keep in mind.
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Offline YourMathTeacher

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #24 on: July 20, 2015, 03:49:36 PM »
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FTR, I ended up getting the base set and then Intrigue. Intrigue provides a second full set of the basic cards (copper, silver, gold, curses, etc.), which I needed for my larger playgroup. The intrigue cards are interesting, but they have a lot of nasty attack cards. I have not bought any other expansions because my group got hooked on the D.C. Deckbuilding game, which is the same format as Dominion, but we liked the theme better. We also started playing the similar Star Realms deckbuilding game, which is much faster than both Dominion and DC.
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Offline Captain Kirk

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #25 on: July 25, 2015, 11:26:01 AM »
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I now have all the sets but Adventures (and the promos). You should get larger sets first as you get more cards for your money. Thst means you should pick from:
- Intrigue
- Seaside
- Prosperity
- Hinterlands
- Dark Ages
- Adventures

The last two are more involved but any of the others are solid choices early on. Intrigue has the most player interaction, Seaside and Hinterlands add new ways to hone your deck, and Prosperity adds very powerful but expensive cards. Prosperity also adds a more expensive coin (Platinum) and victory point (Colony) which are well worth it.

Kirk
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Offline Prof Underwood

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #26 on: August 07, 2015, 04:25:59 AM »
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We also started playing the similar Star Realms deckbuilding game, which is much faster than both Dominion and DC.
Star Realms is awesome!

If you go back to Dominion, I would go with Prosperity.  It the more expensive stuff really twists the game in interesting ways, and it doesn't have all the nasty attacks of Intrigue.

Offline YourMathTeacher

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #27 on: August 07, 2015, 11:23:51 AM »
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It the more expensive stuff really twists the game in interesting ways, and it doesn't have all the nasty attacks of Intrigue.

Interestingly, several of my players like the nasty attack cards (including my loving son   ::)  ) which is why they like the DC Deckbuilding Game so much. The anticipation of who the next Super Villain might be, and what their First Appearance Attack will be, causes priceless reactions.  ;D

I like the variety of cards you can purchase with games like DC and Star Realms, since they have the "line-up" scenario, rather than the limited 10 Kingdom cards in Dominion. I really enjoy Dominion, but it seems too rigid compared to the others. Perhaps the other expansions offer more variety than I am aware of? Do they offer alternative win scenarios, for example? In the DC game, for instance, you have the Kyle Raymer hero card, where if you play him and three power rings in the same turn you win the game immediately. I actually pulled it off a couple weeks ago, but so many variables have to work in your favor that it is very unlikely.
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Offline Captain Kirk

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #28 on: August 08, 2015, 08:55:42 AM »
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No other win scenarios in Dominion.
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Offline YourMathTeacher

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #29 on: August 08, 2015, 11:23:25 AM »
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No other win scenarios in Dominion.

Are there any other drastic gameplay changes with any of the other expansions, particularly with what is available to buy/gain?

BTW, I got your email with your revised Capture the Flag game. I will try to get some playtesting in this coming week, but unfortunately we are packing up our house as we prepare to put it up for sale. Teachers report to school on August 17th, so my free time will become very limited. Sorry.  :-\
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Offline Prof Underwood

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #30 on: August 09, 2015, 09:19:27 PM »
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we are packing up our house as we prepare to put it up for sale.
Woah, that is huge news all of a sudden.  This seems like a follow-up post in Prayer Requests might be in order.  I hope that it's a praise and not a request, but either way I'd like to pray for your family.

Offline Captain Kirk

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #31 on: August 11, 2015, 07:00:27 AM »
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There are drastic changes in Adventures. When setting up the 10 kingdom cards, if you draw any of a certain new card type (I forget what they are called), you keep drawing until you get to 10 regular kingdom cards. Each of the new type of kingdom cards inflates the number of available cards. These cards never go in your deck when gained but instead give you immediate benefits and always remain available. So everyone can buy those cards for effect every turn as much as they would like. There are also quite a few cards that leave your deck for periods of time until certain triggers are met, upon which they return to your deck. So Adventures definitely creates new scenarios and ways to play.

The other expansions don't seem to change the game as much as they reward you for playing different types of cards. Dark Ages rewards you for playing with trashing cards, as many cards give a benefit when trashed. There are ways to get things out of the trash. Cornucopia rewards you for playing with more uniquely named cards in each deck. Those themes I mentioned are fun to pursue and provide new angles of deckbuilding, allowing players to use cards they might not normally choose. There are also a number of "chase" cards in some sets that can only be acquired under certain conditions (see the extra cards that can only be gained when playing with Tournament and Hermit). You might wait much of the game to get some of the cards I am referring to but they are quite strong.

Regarding CtF, thanks for the heads up. I recognize life is full for everyone and I didn't get you updated rules for awhile. Just curious, I assume you did not play the last version before I asked you to wait for the new one? Any feedback in the future would still be great because it is looking more like I will publish it at this point. Games really don't take very long after you know how to play. If it would help you provide me with playtestinf feedback easier, I would be happy to mail you a put-together playtest set to save you prep time. I could also teach you how to play over Skype. I can have others playtest by learning from the rules. Just let me know.

Kirk
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Offline YourMathTeacher

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #32 on: August 11, 2015, 08:25:23 PM »
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Regarding CtF, thanks for the heads up. I recognize life is full for everyone and I didn't get you updated rules for awhile. Just curious, I assume you did not play the last version before I asked you to wait for the new one? Any feedback in the future would still be great because it is looking more like I will publish it at this point. Games really don't take very long after you know how to play. If it would help you provide me with playtestinf feedback easier, I would be happy to mail you a put-together playtest set to save you prep time. I could also teach you how to play over Skype. I can have others playtest by learning from the rules. Just let me know.

I have not looked at the revised version yet, due to all the packing. Have the components changed much? I had printed out everything and put together the pieces/tokens. If there aren't many changes, I will not need you to send me a "put-together" set. I prefer to read the rules and then play, if that is still OK.

We have a realtor viewing the house on Friday, so my wife and I have been frantically cleaning, and going through 7 years of boxes in the garage. I may not be able to playtest until the weekend.
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Offline Captain Kirk

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Re: Dominion Expansions to Buy?
« Reply #33 on: August 11, 2015, 11:12:22 PM »
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I will pray God gives you wisdom and speed in cleaning and packing up everything!

Most of the changes are rule-related but there are some component updates. For components, I added token #7 but the others are the same. The action cards changed a bit: arrows instead of NEWS and removed rest (replaced by token #7) and added cancel. So you would want to print the action cards again, the board, and 2 copies of the move board, which was added to streamline gameplay. Let me know if it would be helpful to send something. My guess is you are probably fine since you took care of 86% of the tokens. ;)

That would be great if you learned via the rules. I need to know if they're horrible. :)

Kirk

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