Does Timber Peak seem worth it? and Concerns on the L-shaped Boards

[LabRat]

I borrowed Timber Peak from a friend and played two of the four scenarios. We felt that the 6 Heroes were a bit lacking, but it didnt feel right to mix some of the Woodinvale Heroes. So we just played Timber Peak as is.

[Bokya]

The reason they probably opted for 4 is that you start with 4 Heroes, and always lose the game if 3 die. The downside with this is that you don't really get an option for Hero choices. In a Situation when you Lose your second hero, you're forced to take the last Hero, instead of being able to choose from a pool of them. Blood in the Forest should fix this situation, but right now it can be a slight concern if you only own TP and not LNOE, or any of its other expansions.

[alderdust]

I still haven't decided on combining them I feel that I'm going to. I don't really have a good reason for combining them other than the more components and choices you have in the game the less likely you are to get bored with the game. This is mainly due to the large amount of choices you will have for your actions both for heroes and zombies once combining LNOE, GH, hero pack, SoFT, and timber peak. The added items and weapons make it less likely to see the same weapon two games in a row and more game board, scenario, and hero choices.

[Hoggarth]

I picked up TP at GenCon this year and have played a few times. I love it as is but look forward to picking up the previous sets as well. I also have a wishlist full of AToE sets ready to buy at Cool Stuff.

[alderdust]

(11-05-2012 04:19 PM)Hoggarth Wrote:  I picked up TP at GenCon this year and have played a few times. I love it as is but look forward to picking up the previous sets as well. I also have a wishlist full of AToE sets ready to buy at Cool Stuff.

I did play TP the other night and will post a game report as soon as i figure the best way to format it and I enjoyed it the fire wasnt as big of a factor as i thought it would be due to the fire spreading rules.

[StayPuft]

(11-09-2012 05:38 PM)alderdust Wrote:  

(11-05-2012 04:19 PM)Hoggarth Wrote:  I picked up TP at GenCon this year and have played a few times. I love it as is but look forward to picking up the previous sets as well. I also have a wishlist full of AToE sets ready to buy at Cool Stuff.

I did play TP the other night and will post a game report as soon as i figure the best way to format it and I enjoyed it the fire wasnt as big of a factor as i thought it would be due to the fire spreading rules.

If you ask me, that is definitely a good thing. I think it would be too much if a fire started just spreading through the whole darn board. I think the fire is definitely a neat addition to the game, but I wouldn't want the game to turn from a zombie game into a run the Hell away from the fire game that happens to have zombies in it. ;-)

[ForestRunner]

Our games have varied in extremes with Fire(s).

Sometimes no/minimal impact, but sometimes a very large impact. It may seem kind of hit and miss I suppose, but I want a Zombie Apocalypse game rather than an Inferno game.

Impression I get is, it's meant to be an added element, rather than define the game as such.

[LabRat]

I've played Timber Peak at least 4 times now, and here's what I can say:

As an expansion, well, it didn't work for me. The feel is really different, it's like its own game, unlike how Growing Hunger made the base set much better. The new Hero and Zombie cards seem overpowered when compared to the older cards, and I can't seem to get over my hesitation of mixing all the cards together and end up with 105-card decks total. The boards also don't completely mesh - I don't like the possibility of having two Hospitals, Police Stations, Diners, in the same board. A Saw Mill in the small town? And some buildings, when used in the base set, can really shift the balance towards the Heroes.

Does that mean this isn't worth it? No! As a stand-alone set, this is great! While having one less than the base, there are no dud scenarios in Timber Peak, each one of them is fun to play. The Timber Peak board is better than the base board, and the experience system adds a new layer to the game without being game-breaking. I found the new characters lacking though. FFP really knocked it out of the park with the first main cast of characters, it's going to be hard to top that.

I'm sticking with what I said before playing Timber Peak - I'll keep both separate and bring select components from one game to another as needed.

[StayPuft]

Personally, from my experience (and the fact that, being a Stand Alone expansion, it contains so much) I think keeping them separate is the right call. Well, separate for the most part, anyway. I think it is definitely worth it to combine them.

I definitely get what you are saying about winding up with two police stations on the board, or two hospitals, etc. However, they did make Timber Peak so it could be an expansion, but also could be played as a separate game. So, a town without a police station and/or hospital would seem a little weird. LOL! If/when you combine them, you can always get around that by simply picking something else if two similar board pieces come up.

I actually have to say, I really like the new characters. Especially Ed. I think they have that small town feel while still be different enough from the characters we have had before. But, I guess I can see where some may not like them. To each his own. :-)

Overall, like I said, I agree with you. I think they work best mainly kept as two separate games. The original and the sequel. Especially to avoid the problem of the decks getting WAY too big.

[ForestRunner]

From a story-telling perpective, I see TP as "the next chapter" - ie representative of some of the Woodinvale survivors in a new location. Just quietly, may there be more chapters to follow.

From a gaming perspective, I'll use a computer game analogy... the original LNoE has the combat ferocity setting to 5 out of 10. TP amps it up to a 6.5.

Note - above is emphasis mine.