Sorry, Charlie - A Post Apocalyptic Ballet Of Carnage; A Look At Neuroshima Hex!

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Nice review! I like to wallow in the grittiness that is the post-apocalyptic world of Neuroshima Hex. The IOS digital adaption is incredible and it almost eclipses the board game version--the IOS version is just as good for face-to-face battles to the death. My favorite faction is Steel Police.

I heard that they're finally going to translate the Neuroshima RPG materials into English. The timing is excellent because of the new Max Max: Fury Road movie release. Anyone know any more about that?

I see they've started posting info on the Portal games site about the RPG, particularly backstory snippets. I haven't been into RPGs in years but it seems like an interesting world.

Despite owning the 2.5 version of Neuroshima Hex! a few years ago and now the 3.0, I've never played with an expansion faction. I'm going to be doing a mini-review of the new Uranopolis but Steel Police and Doomsday Machine look stellar.

It's been my favorite game since I first played it, and it still is. I've got a nearly complete set of 2.0. The one thing I've never gotten a straight answer on.... are the 3.0 tiles the same size? Also, are they the cheap thin stock used in the more recent army expansions, or the nice thick stock of the original armies?

Ah, I can't answer that as I don't know anyone else who has a copy and haven't played any version besides 3.0 in years so I can't recall.

I do think people have said that 3.0 is fully compatible with previous versions, so they should be the same size. I know the graphic design changed as the old version has the black borders and the icons are slightly different. I didn't think I'd like the borderless tiles but they do look clean.

Man oh man, do I love NH! I have the 2nd edition and it's one of the few games I can comfortably say that I've played the hell out of. The four factions in the base game play so completely differently from each other, there's a tremendous amount of design space to explore with such a small footprint and price point. What's makes it more impressive is that it's such a clean design. Nothing impresses me more than a game that provides this much depth and play while maintaining a small investment rules-wise. When fully realized, less will always be more, and I can guarantee that it will see the table far more often than even the best wargame, Euro flavor of the week, or FFG card fest.

I'm glad I got as much play out of my copy as I did before the iOS version came out. Before anyone chimes in with claims of preferring the tabletop version, let me stop you. Not this time, you're wrong. I might add that as much as Iove NH, I might prefer Theseus. I think I need to break that one back out.

Josh Look wrote: Nothing impresses me more than a game that provides this much depth and play while maintaining a small investment rules-wise. When fully realized, less will always be more, and I can guarantee that it will see the table far more often than even the best wargame, Euro flavor of the week, or FFG card fest

Well this statement is wrong. Wrong in its premises. Wrong in its execution. Wrong in its conclusions.

Not saying NH isn't a good game. It is. However to claim that less will always be more in games is in no way true. Fully realized or no, there is a depth, immersion, and personal investment in weightier games that things like NH cannot touch.

This is particularly so on the war gaming side of things. Will it see more plays than the best wargame? Perhaps, but in no way will it see more table time. Nor dare I say will it compete with a card fest such as Netrunner in either times played or table time.

Games such as NH tend to see, in my experience, a burst of repeated plays initially followed by burnout. In essence, it is a pure abstract game (albeit with asymmetrical play) and as such gains no hold upon the imagination. That results in a finite lifespan of interest.

repoman wrote:

Josh Look wrote: Nothing impresses me more than a game that provides this much depth and play while maintaining a small investment rules-wise. When fully realized, less will always be more, and I can guarantee that it will see the table far more often than even the best wargame, Euro flavor of the week, or FFG card fest

Well this statement is wrong. Wrong in its premises. Wrong in its execution. Wrong in its conclusions.

Not saying NH isn't a good game. It is. However to claim that less will always be more in games is in no way true. Fully realized or no, there is a depth, immersion, and personal investment in weightier games that things like NH cannot touch.

This is particularly so on the war gaming side of things. Will it see more plays than the best wargame? Perhaps, but in no way will it see more table time. Nor dare I say will it compete with a card fest such as Netrunner in either times played or table time.

Games such as NH tend to see, in my experience, a burst of repeated plays initially followed by burnout. In essence, it is a pure abstract game (albeit with asymmetrical play) and as such gains no hold upon the imagination. That results in a finite lifespan of interest.

I don't think I've ever read a more incorrect collection words in my life (then again, I don't go to news websites so...)

Flailing through rules sucks. I'm done with that. Immerision is only possible when the rules fade into the background.

Josh, I can only say that your comment on immersion is utter bollocks. You have no idea what you are talking about because you don't play enough games, above the level of Barbie Toys, in order to make a judgement.

Also, you are a dick.

Are there lots of NH cons then? I must have missed that.

Holy shit, both of you.

Enjoy your rulebooks. It's the most you'll ever see of most of the games you buy.

PS- Jeff started the talk of immersion. I don't give a fuck.

I haven't tried Neuroshima Hex. The theme is right up my alley, but the implementation sounds more abstract than what I want from a game.

In terms of rules weight, I gravitate towards the heavy end of the middle, like maybe a 3.5 on BGG's weight scale. When the rules are minimal, the game tends to seem too simple and abstract. But a big rulebook can completely drag a game down for me. I've played Twilight Imperium several times now, and while I've enjoyed each game, I often felt a bit overwhelmed by the complexity. Chrome rules can bring a theme to life, but too many chrome rules can kill the fun.

Josh, I'm only messing with you (except for the bit about you being a dick).

This comment is from you or your doppelganger?
<<Immerision is only possible when the rules fade into the background. >>

It really isn't the chrome that causes a game to drag, it's the inefficiency of the rulebook.

BSG doesn't really have a lot of chrome, in the base game, but it is a bitch trying to find stuff in the rulebook. PoG is similar, lots of flicking through pages of rules to find the particular one you want until you become familiar with the system. ASL is far better structured and fully indexed so, although more chrome, there really isn't much interruption of play. This is what makes it a very effective and addictive sandbox game.

I also wanted to add that this was a poetic description of Neuroshima Hex and quite appropriate: A Post Apocalyptic Ballet Of Carnage.

I had Neuroshima Hex 2.5 (which includes Alabama and the Mad Bomber and some such stuff). Before that I had first edition with the Doomsday faction (which is actually knd of a boring faction). I had a lot of the cool new expansions and Mississippi 3.0. i dislike the board in 3.0 but don't mind the depiction of the units, although I prefer the simpler earlier style. i owned 3.0 for about a week at one point but sold it. the lack of the simple black borders is bullshit. the new Zman dropped the ball with 3.0 graphically incl. the fugly cover. Nowhere as cool as the post-apoc versions that preceded it. Anyone can see that. Get the Portal version if you can.

NH played great and we played it a lot but I can confirm Repo's burnout assessment. We got over it, then it was just a box full of hex chips and I sold the whole thing off in a flash - and don't regret it. Why? iOS.

I love NH but the iOS version is better and faster for this kind of a game. And for it's worth, while it has great possibilities the cardboard version doesn't bitchslap every other game ever made.

Also, Hegemony for life!