Reasons for LNOE fans to buy IFOS: LNOE-IFOS Cross Overs Part 1

[LabRat]

Yes, it's me again, trying to promote LNOE's little-known little brother, Invasion From Outer Space. I've read comments from people who have LNOE and refuse to buy IFOS because it's essentially the same game with different components; they'd rather buy a direct LNOE expansion than a new but same game. Well, they're wrong and I know better, so you should listen to me. And if you're one of the people who didn't give IFOS a chance because it follows the same game engine, well you should because I said so.

What?! You're still not convinced? Are you really going to make me write a series of articles explaining why IFOS is a worthy addition to your LNOE catalog? That takes so much effort, geez. I don't even work for FFP, I'm not going to get anything for writing all that. Can't you just take my word for it and get a copy of IFOS now? No? Fine, fine.

I'm targeting the LNOE fanbase so this series of articles will look at IFOS components that will help enrich or improve your LNOE gaming experience. I'll do my best to start with the components that have the least amount of changes to the LNOE game.

The first set of components that come to mind when thinking about crossing IFOS over to LNOE is the board. With one center board and only eight outer L-boards, the map is bound to repeat itself, especially if you consider that most of the L-boards that came with the base set are similar. Sure, the pickups are different per building, but the structure of each L-board doesn't differ much from each other - the buildings are mostly 4 squares long, and the spawn points are always at the edge of the board with 4 spawn points at the far corner and 2 at the middle. With the exception of the Diner and the Gas Station, all of the buildings of the Woodinvale boards are always adjacent to the board's outer edge.

The first thing that pops out when you compare the Carnival to the Small Town is the size of the buildings - the Magik Wagon, the Fire Wagon, and the Bear Tent are all smaller, taking up just 1x2 squares. The Consession Stand, the Shooting Gallery and the Fortune Teller tent are L-shaped (with the Fortune Teller tent a tad smaller having both "arms" of the "L" taking up only 1 square of space). We also have the odd-sized buildings like the Fun House, the Arcade and the Animal Pens which are similar to the original Hospital.

Another difference is where the buildings are placed. Several buildings don't touch the outer edge of the map and are instead adjacent to the middle edge, like the Bear Tent, the Lion Tent, and the Curiosity Shop. The Ferris Wheel isn't even adjacent to both edges, and the Shooting Gallery's L-shape allows it to be adjacent to both the outer and middle edges. Comparing my experiences playing both games, the Carnival board gave me the feel of actually running around buildings as opposed to the Small Town board where the feel was more of running from one building through an open space into another building.

Another major structural change is where the spawn points are situated. On the Carnival board, only 3 out of 6 L-boards have the landing sites at the far corner. Two of the L-boards have the spawn points one space closer to the center. This puts the Zombies a little closer to the action - one space may not be big, but remember that one space equals one less turn for the Zombies to get close, and one less turn for the Heroes to search.

You also have to consider the Hard Walls of the Carnival. There are 3 buildings that have Hard Walls: the Ferris Wheel, the Fun House, and the wall dividing the Storage Room and the Arcade. Hard Walls matter in an LNOE-IFOS Crossover because the Heroes can't shoot through them (only through a doorway, and only in a horizontal or vertical path) but the Zombies can still walk through them. Being in the Ferris Wheel or the Fun House helps the Heroes against Martians (Martians can't shoot nor walk through Hard Walls) but it can be a death trap for Heroes.

And the last structural change is the Big Top Tent. Because of the way the squares are laid out, the Big Top Tent center board feels like a cross between the Town Center and the Manor House. The corner squares are still as big as a 2x2 area, but you can no longer move figures diagonally from a corner square to the middle square because of the Corner Blockers. The middle outer squares are split into two, so if a model were to cross through the tent they would have to walk 5 squares as opposed to 3 on the Town Center. This has forced me to run around the Big Top Tent rather than through it, both as a Hero player or as a Martian player. I can only imagine the impact that this can have when moving your Zombies across the map.

In terms of gameplay, one big change when you play on the Carnival is the change in pickup locations. Most of the LNOE items are no longer accessible via the pickup mechanic, such as the First Aid kit, the Meat Cleaver, the Pump Shotgun, and the Signal Flare. Guns are still accessible from the Shooting Gallery, and Explosives are more accessible because of the Fire Wagons (which also makes Fire items accessible - hello Dynamite).

The absence of start locations is another change, but we've played LNOE a lot - we're used to Heroes starting in Random Locations or at the Center of the board, aren't we? I'd say this change won't have much of an impact.

Of course, if you want to try battling at the Carnival, you need to know which LNOE scenarios are applicable. I only know the scenarios from the base set so I can only comment on those. I'd say four out of the five base scenarios would work on the Carnival board: "Die Zombies, Die!" and "Save the Townsfolk" work fine without any adjustments; "Burn 'Em Out!" seems like it won't but the lack of the Gas Station is offset by the Fire Wagons (which is actually better since Dynamite can be picked up from that building); and "Escape in the Truck" would still work, you just have to use the Fair Grounds board (similar to the Town Center) instead of the Big Top Tent. Note that we're only considering using the IFOS board - we'll still use the Hero deck when playing these scenarios.

Would you buy an entire game strictly for the new board? Maybe not at full price, but the game has gone on sale at several sources, I've read a few comments where people picked this up at discounted prices. Next time, I'll talk about other components that you can use in your LNOE experience without changing the game too much.

[Orguss]

I applaud your trying as I really love IFOS

[wisdomknight]

You just might have sold me!
I just need to find a good price and its a done deal

[LabRat]

Thanks! This is just part 1, there are a few more parts to this that I'm working on

[Dillon00]

I look forward to the rest! I plan on getting it eventually. I'm not a huge fan of the carnival/circus theme but I read through the rule book and it seems like a cool game.