tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15689010799904158582024-03-14T20:10:54.555-04:00The Cosmic WarpDiscussions, news, and gossip involving the greatest board game in the cosmos: Cosmic Encounter.The Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-24204593522248363602017-07-04T14:00:00.000-04:002017-07-04T14:00:15.438-04:00Rulers of The Cosmos!Another recent set of combos played was all about the aliens that are used to being in charge.
DICTATOR [base] Controls Destiny Deck
EMPEROR [CE] Demands Tribute
GENERAL [CA] Draws Cards for Allies
OLIGARCH [CE] Gets Richer as Others Get Poorer
TYRANT [CS] Claims Other Players’ Ships
USURPER [CD] Makes Allies Play Encounter Cards
For additional players, consider adding in:
NANNY [CE] The Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com101tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-16528517920877416522016-01-30T11:39:00.002-05:002016-01-30T11:39:46.756-05:00Cosmic Combos (part 1)Over the last year, I've been able to set up some Cosmic Combos.
These are games where the aliens have been pre-selected to be in the same game.
Here are a few of the combos we've played, and some commentary.
POKER FACE
1- Ace
2- Deuce
3- Tripler
4- Joker
5- Gambler
6- Winner
7- Loser
8- Angler
We only ended up doing the six player mix, which includes Winner. However, if we'd The Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com66tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-39370929882704311232014-06-08T20:29:00.001-04:002014-06-08T20:29:46.875-04:00Cosmic Dominion in the Hyperspace GateThe fifth expansion for CE has been announced, and will be available in a few months or so.
Cosmic Dominion is being touted as the "Fan Expansion", because it is largely composed of fan-designed content (aliens, cards, and more). It was also officially designed by three fans: Jefferson Krogh, Bill Martinson, and yours truly. The three of us shepherded the submissions, fine-tuned themThe Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com63tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-73838239727723872212013-08-02T00:56:00.001-04:002013-08-02T00:56:26.801-04:00Cosmic Storm of CousinsCosmic Encounter's fourth expansion from Fantasy Flight Games is imminent. Unlike the previous three expansions, this one does not add a new player color, but does add five more aliens. Out of the 25 aliens included, FFG has previewed ten of them, and the reception has been mixed. Here's my initial thoughts on these first ten.
Brute
This is probably the most powerful alien The Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com39tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-21783230733042925902011-03-01T16:48:00.004-05:002011-03-01T16:52:55.163-05:00Hazard IconsThe FFG version of Cosmic has always included a subtle marking on 1 destiny card for each color. The rules made clear this was for the Hazard expansion to be released. Hazards are here, as part of Cosmic Conflict, the latest expansion. However, there are other possible uses for that Hazard icon.One I'm calling Hazard Aliens works like this: Each player receives two aliens at start up. One is The Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com83tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-31740448879460641572011-01-21T20:51:00.001-05:002011-01-21T20:52:11.862-05:00International Cosmic Encounter DayThis Feb 12th, 2011 is ICE Day. International Cosmic Encounter. Get yourself a game on somewhere, live or online.The Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com173tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-75587224577353207532010-11-15T18:54:00.001-05:002010-11-15T18:56:33.837-05:00Cosmic ConflictThe second expansion for FFG's CE is here:Cosmic Conflict20 aliens, black ships and planets, Hazards!The Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com66tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-36046494837067377622010-07-26T21:10:00.003-04:002010-07-26T21:16:55.716-04:00The Eclipse VariantOver on BoardGameGeek, there's a cool new variant from Toomai Glittershine for use in the Reward deck.Solar Eclipses have always acted as a distraction, causing temporary chaos. When played, they cause a phase to be skipped. They are played in the phase preceding the skipped one; for example a Solar Eclipse that skips Destiny is played at the end of the Regroup phase.Lunar Eclipses usually cause The Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com66tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-39591302242348920612010-07-08T23:29:00.006-04:002010-07-13T16:28:12.072-04:00Inverted PrawA nice alternative to the Praw (or the kinder, gentler version) from Patrick Riley:When ships are lost, they go to the Praw. All references to "Warp" in power descriptions should be read as "Praw" except Warpish, who counts the ships in both the Warp and the Praw.From the Praw, ships must first move to the Warp before returning to colonies. Ships never move from the Warp to the Praw; i.e., thereThe Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com106tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-12173032944064639142010-06-28T17:19:00.004-04:002010-06-28T17:25:40.454-04:00Most Wanted AlienThe next expansion for Cosmic Encounter is most likely in the preparation stages, and aliens are being selected for inclusion. Which alien would you most like to see included?Below is a poll that includes most of the classic Eon aliens (a few notable exceptions, like Insect, which is arguably close enough to Plant that it will probably not be included yet, and Worm, which is a little bit on the The Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com65tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-25141106242936300792010-06-21T14:03:00.006-04:002010-06-22T00:08:06.128-04:00Tweaked AliensThe Fantasy Flight version of Cosmic (including the Cosmic Incursion expansion) has had a number of aliens from previous editions of CE, but modified for one reason or another. There have been a number of revisions to the original powers over the years. The Warp currently has 26 revisions (not counting changes made in the FFG edition).And there was a newsgroup posting about it in 2004 by Rob The Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-76057943982485002082010-06-01T12:58:00.005-04:002010-06-01T13:43:18.453-04:00Alliance Cards variantStefan Lopuszanski's idea for cards that allies play face down do their commitment to the alliance can be kept secret until everyone has responded has been extremely entertaining to play with.I created a set of cards that don't require specific colors. Every player invited to ally must play a card (even if they do not intend to ally, they must play a card with zero ships). I've also included a The Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-56854952676766425792010-05-23T08:30:00.005-04:002010-05-23T08:44:33.569-04:00Cosmic Incursion ReviewsIt's taken some time before some user reviews of CI finally surfaced. Gerald Katz posted one on the rec.boardgames.ce newsgroup- mostly positive:"Hooray for the return of Kickers, Negative Attack Cards, and someEdicts (Artifacts) like Space Junk and Hand Zap.I like the crooked Negotiates. +1 compensation or -1/+1 ship to thewarp on failed deal..."Nate Owens posted an even glowier review on The Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-59671150450385616932010-05-09T19:47:00.005-04:002010-05-10T20:48:19.626-04:00Alien Strategy Series: CloneFirst appearance: Eon base set.Plain-English power: May keep own encounter card.Loved by: Mutant; Hacker; Magician, Barbarian.Loathed by: Filch.Three ways to win as Clone:Spend some time early in the game trying to get cards as rewards. Once you can get your hands on a great encounter card, like the 30 or 40, you'll be extremely hard to stop.It's difficult to get a new hand of cards as Clone, soThe Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-27169063602832046552010-05-03T20:44:00.004-04:002010-05-03T21:07:19.092-04:00ConstellationsThis is an expansion that directs the objectives for each player at the start of the game. History: When certain stars and planets are lined up, they form shapes in the sky. In the game, players try to capture specific planets in different systems. Additional Equipment: A set of Constellation cards, kept separate from the regular deck. Additional Set-up: Each player draws a Constellation card atThe Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-16435830399688712462010-04-21T12:07:00.005-04:002010-04-21T12:26:07.691-04:00Alien Strategy Series: BarbarianFirst appearance: Fantasy Flight CEPlain-English power: Ransacks opponent's hand, keeping what he wants, trashing the rest.Loved by: Masochist. Love is probably too strong to describe Masochist's feelings about Barbarian, but it's all relative. Most aliens don't have much love for this guy.Loathed by: Genius, Remora, and anyone that finally drew their own flare card.Three ways to win as The Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-16490948484379641152010-04-20T17:39:00.003-04:002010-04-20T17:47:53.576-04:00Power Selection VariantsA fun and easy twist on the game is to change up how you select the aliens for the game. The normal method is to deal out two and pick the one you like more. But there's plenty of other interesting methods for selecting your power. An idea called "Bid Drafting" was recently proposed and discussed on BoardGameGeek, which I recently tried out. It was a fun way to start the game and actually The Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-56373651208515013062010-04-16T17:54:00.003-04:002010-04-16T18:50:34.870-04:00Cosmic ExpressAbout a year ago, a clever and amusing version of Dune came out called Dune Express (it uses a lot of dice and some simple components, and was the Golden Geek winner 2009 for Print & Play). Now there's an "express" version of CE called Cosmic Express (also called Cosmic Dice) from Nathan Bryan.The first version of Dune Express was decent, but what really made it come alive was a lot of upgraded The Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-52192598199056513692010-04-14T23:10:00.002-04:002010-04-14T23:17:50.779-04:00Power of the Day ReturnsGerald Katz is back to posting an alien power each day, now on BoardGameGeek. These posts originally appeared on rec.games.board.ce over the course of many years. The one thing I have particularly enjoyed is watching the evolution of some of the homebrew aliens. Comments from other players sometimes inform the development, and also changes to the game itself have contributed to how the aliens The Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-61040680692938663002010-04-11T10:36:00.007-04:002010-04-11T11:20:27.061-04:00Nova CardsI recently issued a plea on the CE newsgroup for information about Mayfair's never-released expansion for Cosmic Encounter that tantalized players for a long time, was play tested, and on the verge of release when.... it wasn't. Nova cards.Responding the most popular complaint about its edition of CE, the one-shot flares, Mayfair cooked up a new card that would behave like the classic Eon flare The Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-50802318887773279342010-04-08T17:35:00.002-04:002010-04-08T18:04:58.643-04:00HazardsThe concept for Hazards has been around since the late 80's (I first read about them on Aaron Fuegi's site). Hazards were a separate deck of cards that the offensive player had to draw from at the start of every encounter (before retrieving a ship from the warp). The cards typically affected the offensive player, but sometimes anyone was targeted. Most of the effects were not good. I'm goingThe Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-91683159781662902472010-04-05T08:58:00.003-04:002010-04-05T09:07:31.478-04:00Alien Strategy Series: RemoraFirst appearance: Fantasy Flight CEPlain-English power: Gets Cards or Ships when other players doLoved by: Hacker, Barbarian, and Mutant.Loathed by: Warpish and Mutant. With Mutant, it's a love-hate thing.Three ways to win as Remora:- Make judicious use of a negotiate card. When your hand starts to get big, it becomes a target for compensation. Players are more likely to play a negotiate The Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-35065333148244246742010-03-30T18:44:00.003-04:002010-03-30T19:11:01.186-04:00Spotlight on RewardsWhen you ally with the defensive main player, and your side win, each ally receives "rewards" (one for each ship involved in the encounter).Rewards consist of any combination of cards from the deck or ships from the warp (returned to colonies)- and, with the release of Cosmic Incursion, allies can take rewards from a separate deck called the Reward Deck.The Reward Deck includes many cards that The Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-83489311120873784282010-03-29T10:52:00.002-04:002010-03-29T11:00:56.010-04:00Picking up the mantleWhile Blogmic Encounter is undergoing a life assessment, I will attempt to pick up some of the slack here at Cosmic Warp. I'm also open to broadening the edit staff by seeking folks interested in contributing content to this blog.I can't promise there will be as much added Dune flavor, though I am willing to include exciting columns on other games and events.Forgive the pedestrian look of the The Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568901079990415858.post-17652622133154421122009-12-20T21:53:00.000-05:002009-12-20T21:55:51.316-05:00Lucre in the new Cosmic?If you are a fan of lucre in Cosmic Encounter, or are curious about how Fantasy Flight Games might implement it, weigh on the discussion that's taking place on BoardGameGeek: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/469966/lucre-a-study-of-its-pros-and-cons-and-potentialThe Warphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434816049674939631noreply@blogger.com1