Josh Koehn
United States
Oklahoma
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If I only had enough loose cash to buy one expansion, what would be the best one?
Now I know that this matter is opinional, but that is what I am asking for, what is your favorite expansion and why?
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J
United States
Alexandria
Virginia
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You really cannot go wrong with either the 1st (9000) or 3rd (SFDF). I would go with Over 9000.
The second expansion (Cthullu) is easily the most controversial one. Opinions on it vary greatly depending on who you ask. I don't feel like arguing whether or not it's good here but you're probably better off avoiding it initially and deciding if you like the game enough to get it afterwards.
Between the 1st and 3rd expansion I'd say that Over 9000 has the easier to use factions and it's more assessable to the masses. The only "black sheep" faction in Over 9000 are Ghosts but Ghosts are really good when you know how to use them right.
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Charles Hasegawa
United States
Chandler
Arizona
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I have both 9000 and Cthulu and I'm surprised I enjoyed the Cthulu like I did. If you enjoy the game, you'll want all of them eventually, but I'd go with 9000 if you can just get one. Tons of options that are a lot of fun (I like the ghosts).
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N R
United States
Michigan
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I have all three expansions and I have to agree that the 1st or 3rd would be the best choice. I really enjoy the Cthulhu Mythos and like the 2nd expansion but I feel the other expansions offer better overall variety.
Of Over 9000 and Science Fiction Double Feature, it's a toss-up really. Both are great expansions that offer some very interesting factions. Personally, I would give the nod to Over 9000 mainly because I have played it more than SFDF.
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Marc Bennett
United States
Illinois
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i agree with everyone, the obligatory expansion is anything but. you can wait for that one. 9000+ is probably your best bet, but if you really like the idea of spies and time travelers then go for scifi!
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Brad A
Canada
Montreal
Quebec
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For my money, I'd go with Science Fiction Double Feature.
Why?
From my experiences, the factions in SFDF seem to have a better operating synergy with all the factions from the main set.
I think the playtesting really hit its stride with Science Fiction Double Feature, and the game developers finally started to take synergy into account when creating new cards to Smash Up with existing factions.
Spies and Time Travelers are exceptional "support" factions, lending power to whichever faction from the original set you use, and Mimics and Cyber Apes are the "heavies" of the set that benefit from being paired with the factions of the OS.
Overall, from my perspective, Science Fiction Double Feature has a more balanced feel to it, like the game developers took a more involved approach to its construction.
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Ryan Post
United States
Covington
Kentucky
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My opinion:
Ghost = My favorite
Plants = above average
Bears = average
Steampunk = dislike
Bases = good
Shapeshifter and Spies = love
Apes = average (don't like using factions that strong)
Time Travelers = dislike a lot
Bases = love/hate (really polarizing bases)
Overall: I would give the nod to SFDF as the better expansion, but I personally would buy 9000 first because it is very close and I couldn't live without ghost.
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J
United States
Alexandria
Virginia
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You dislike the Punks? Y?
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Ryan Post
United States
Covington
Kentucky
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allstar64 wrote: You dislike the Punks? Y?
I never find myself enjoying their playstyle. It is so heavily dependent on getting the good draw: rotary and aggro early, scrap dive middle, mechanic later and spread out. The only real way to balance that is take certain particular factions that either help draw or have good on base actions, which feels very limited, and are for the most part factions I don't like.
I'd play Steampunk Plant, or Steampunk Trickster if I haven't done Trickster in a long time, but that is it really. Steampunk/Wizard is great, but I use Wizard a lot in other places.
I see their strength, but I just have 0 fun playing them. TT is the opposite to me: they are very very weak, but they are fun when you have a solid combo. Spy and Plant TT are fun to me, as the strategies are endless. Also, their weakness makes me feel comfortable with picking what I see as OP factions (robot and zombie), who I otherwise don't pick very often. However, a bad TT combo is like a nightmare. I'd rather not play than use a bad TT combo (steampunk can always be competitive at least). Both are in my bottom 4 most played (not including Cthulhu).
I do need to try Spy/Steampunk still. It sounds good in theory, with cycling, two really strong Mole actions and scrap diving for Base is not Enough.
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Brad A
Canada
Montreal
Quebec
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I played Steampunks+Time Travelers tonight, and was pleasantly surprised with the combination. Again, as it always seems to, it came down to the Time Travelers capacity for Action recursion; once Aggromotive and Rotary are in your discard, the board really opens up for you, and Repeater Perfect coupled with Zeppelin gives you an almost unlimited freedom of movement comparable only to the Pirates faction. Love those Time Travelers!
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Doug Bey
United States
Brooklyn Park
Minnesota
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I'd recommend 9000 as the best starting expansion, followed very closely by SFDF.
Skip Cthulu... the madness cards don't fit well with all combos.
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Mark Turner
United Kingdom
Farnham
Surrey
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I tend to agree.
I rather like the Cthulhu decks, but the madness mechanic is unnecessary and clutters up the game.
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Well, here is my two cents.
AL9K
Plants - good, smashup`y, maybe sometimes pretty strong
Bears - good, pretty balanced, smashup`y. And come on, there is not so many games with bear calvary as playable side.
Ghosts - kinda weird, but then all and all fun and nice faction.
Steampunk - over the top strong (we got another zombie deck but now with actions, hurrah?) and kinda out of the theme (gee, lets add cyberpunk, clockpunk, biopunk, whateverpunk then).
Bases - mediocre, with some beasts like workshop and fillers like haunted mansion.
Talent mechanic is ok.
A must-have expansion for a fan, nothing to add.
Cthulhu
Cultists - over the top weird.
Miscatonic - very strong, even on its own.
Elders - huge wow-effect on first look, kinda meh on second
Innsmouth - very lazy.
Bases - ok, few i could add in every game, but...
...here is my complains about this expansion - different color of the bases, that obnoxious Madness-mechanic, that dumb theme orientation(i like Lovecraft books, played few games, based on them, and gladly accepted a mythos-inspired deck, but whole expansion, really?), weird rulings (with no FAQ/errata) killed these one for me. Good side was nerfing the zombies, but who cares.
SFDF
Spies - very solid.
Shapeshifters - maybe sometimes overpowered, but makes every game more intriguing.
Apes - not played yet, but seems very powerful.
Time travelers - black sheep of this box for me. Artwork is fun, and references is there, but mechanic is weak.
Bases - one of the best bases in entire game + some mediocre.
All and all, another great expansion, back to that good ol` smashup`y feel.
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Time travelers with aliens are extremely powerful at picking up VP quickly. When you get out your invaders and manage to play Do Over and Doctor When, you can get up to 4 victory points in two turns. Then you can use crop circles and play the invaders again. So in some situations Time travelers are great.
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Ryan Post
United States
Covington
Kentucky
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TheWeaponX wrote: Time travelers with aliens are extremely powerful at picking up VP quickly. When you get out your invaders and manage to play Do Over and Doctor When, you can get up to 4 victory points in two turns. Then you can use crop circles and play the invaders again. So in some situations Time travelers are great.
That last sentence really sums up TT to me. "in some situations" is right, but that isn't often. Using Doctor When or Do It Again has one huge drawback: you have to leave Invader out there! Better hope he doesn't get killed or your opponents don't rush the base! Also, better hope you draw Invader at least halfway through. You can use other cards to stall, (and reuse them), but you can't stall forever.
I won my only TT/Alien game, but it was pure luck. I did Invader/Do It Again/ Invader on Secret Headquarters. My 3 opponents broke the base. What was my top card? A collector. still got 3rd with a 2 power minion, and got Invader back. I won by 1. This feels like one of those very few situations.
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Thought I would bump up this thread and see what peoples thoughts are now, with PPSM, Munchkin, IAYF expansions.
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burnerp3h wrote: Thought I would bump up this thread and see what peoples thoughts are now, with PPSM, Munchkin, IAYF expansions.
Over 9000 is still the best expansion. Though IAYF does give you 5 factions as opposed to 4.
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I'd rate them like this: (I take the price into account and what you get for the price, the balance of the set, how it integrates with the other sets, the fun I have with the set, art and flavour)
1 - It's your fault
2 - AL9000
3 - Cease and Desist
4 - Pretty Pretty
5 - Monster Smash
6 - Munchkin
7 - SFDF
8 - Base Game
9 - TOCS
10 - Big geeky Box
Some boxes might shift a position or so after some particularly good or bad play experiences.
And of course, this appreciation is very personal. Others might rank them differently, and that's ok.
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Anonymous Person
United States
California
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quit and nuts wrote: I'd rate them like this: (I take the price into account and what you get for the price, the balance of the set, how it integrates with the other sets, the fun I have with the set, art and flavour)
1 - It's your fault
2 - AL9000
3 - Cease and Desist
4 - Pretty Pretty
5 - Monster Smash
6 - Munchkin
7 - SFDF
8 - Base Game
9 - TOCS
10 - Big geeky Box
Some boxes might shift a position or so after some particularly good or bad play experiences.
And of course, this appreciation is very personal. Others might rank them differently, and that's ok.
How have you played Cease and Desist? It doesn't come out until September.
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Father Time wrote:
How have you played Cease and Desist? It doesn't come out until September.
I responded to this:
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1462591/call-playtesters-sma...
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Jay Young
United States
virginia beach
Virginia
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MY list would go
1 - The Obligatort Cthulu Expansion
2 - It's Your Fault
3 - Pretty Pretty
4 - Munchkin
5 - Base
6 - Awesome Level 9000
7 - Geek
8 + 9 (tied)- Science Fiction Double Feature and Monster Smash
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Anonymous Person
United States
California
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quit and nuts wrote:
Oh cool. Do you think the star roamers and changerbots factions would be fun who don't know much about Star Trek or Transformers? Also which one is your favorite faction?
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Anonymous Person
United States
California
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Honestly my favorite expansion so far is Munchkin.
Although I haven't played as all the factions in it's your fault (I've only played as the dragons and the sharks but I've played against all the others).
I love Munchkin because it feels like it's own separate game, you can get 4 people and play as only the munchkin factions with only the munchkin bases and it's a lot of fun. I've also played a game where everyone was something from Munchkin + a non Munchkin (and non Cthuluhu) faction and it worked better than I thought.
For an expansion that adds major gameplay tweaks it works a lot better than Cthulhu, and hey it's 8 new factions vs. 4 or 5 (or 1).
Thing is I don't think I'd recommend it as someone's first expansion unless they're a big Munchkin fan. For that I guess maybe Awesome Level 9000, not because I really like all the factions (I think the Bears stink, and the steampunk rely way too heavily on two specific cards to be good, although the other 2 are good) but because they have the original 16 bases with bigger font which helps.
Although if it weren't for that I'd definitely recommend science fiction double feature as someone to start with. They're not all great but they're definitely on the simpler side (except shapeshifters but they're unique enough that it's a plus).
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Father Time wrote: quit and nuts wrote: Oh cool. Do you think the star roamers and changerbots factions would be fun who don't know much about Star Trek or Transformers? Also which one is your favorite faction?
Yes they are fun for someone who doesn't know anything about the franchise they are similar to but legally distinct from.
Just like one can enjoy the vampire faction without knowing anything about "vampire mythology" or the halflings without knowing Munchkin or even Tolkien. They are fully functional factions with mechanics that work well.
Knowing the flavour just increases the fun, as it makes sense as to why a vampire gets stronger after killing a minion, and you are able to catch the jokes in the art. And frankly, even someone who doesn't know much about vampires, still knows they drink blood to get stronger.
It's hard to pick a favourite. If I have to pick one, I'd have to say the Ignobles, but it's a tight race.
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Anonymous Person
United States
California
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You know what after thinking about it I'm going to change my answer. Best first expansion to get is sci fi double feature.
I want to know why everyone thinks awesome level 9000 is so great for newcomers?
The bears stink, the steampunk aren't very good if you can't get aggromotive or rotary slug thrower by at least mid game (and if you can get them early they're a bit ridiculous). The plants are good but I wouldn't recommend them to new players and even moreso with the ghosts (I honestly think the ghosts are amazing but they'd be one of the last factions I'd recommend to new players).
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