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Nerdarchy > Games  > Board Games  > Smash Up is a Killer Combiner Card Game

Smash Up is a Killer Combiner Card Game

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smash upHello fellow Nerdarchists out there.  Nerdarchist Ted here and today I want to talk more about some board games or card game in this instance.  Particularly Smash Up, published by AEG.  The basic premise of the game is universal domination,  and who does not want that?

I have been playing this game for quite a while and just love it.  My fellow Nerdarchist do as well.  And who does not want to play a game that has a T-rex with mounted lasers?

The galaxy or universe is at war and no single faction has made enough progress by themselves to be able to say they are winning.  So what is there to do?  Lets team up.

In Smash Up, you get eight decks themed with an army and particular play style.  You get to either pick two or have them chosen randomly.  If you only have the base game random choice is easy just grab your friendly d8s and re-roll any doubles or choices already made.

Once you have your two themed decks go ahead and shuffle them together and you get to try to take over.

The rules are pretty simple to follow and cards that break the rules are present so cards trump basic rules.  Again quite easy to follow.

You get loads of factions to choose from.  With 8 choices you can make up to 28 possible decks.  Sections from the rule book show how comical the rule book is written.

Aliens: Aliens love to mess with people and they love to mess with other players even more.  From card gamebouncing minions back to players hands, to replacing bases in play, aliens are out to have a great time, at any planets expense.

Dinosaurs:  If there’s one thing dinosaurs know how to do . . .actually with a brain the size of a walnut, they don’t know how to do anything.  But they are big.  And –  holy cats – some one gave them lasers!

Ninjas:If you can see a ninja, chances are you’re already dead (and if you can see them while dead, skip ahead to the zombie section).  I don’t want to give away the secrets or anything, but most of what this faction does is sneaky, happens fast, and at the last second.  So look out for that.

Pirates:You know what’s better than roving the high seas?  Roving anywhere you want.  Pirates buckle their swashes in every port, and you’ll walk the plank if you don’t like it.

Robots: Captains of industry built the robots, and then the robots took over and made the process even more efficient! Now they churn out more little highly specialized bots than their enemies can handle.  Oh, and a few massive ones as well.

Tricksters: Stealing things, stopping things, starting things, hiding your keys in the morning, collecting underpants for profit . . .for years you’ve thought of these little people as pests.  No they’ve turned up as pesticide.

Wizard: Presto! Wizards conjure what they need with actions galore.  They just keep pulling things out of their hands.  Or their hats . . .  or that big portal to another reality they just opened in your kitchen.

Zombies: “They’re coming to get you, Player 2.”  It’s hard to keep a good walker down.  Zombies just keep coming back and sometimes they come in waves.  Sending zombies to the discard pile isn’t “so long,” it’s just “see you later!”

So with all these choices you can have endless games that are vastly different because you can make new choices each time and who you play with can change as well and they makes a different game as well.

If you are a board game enthusiast then this is one I highly recommend that you check out.  With just the first game you get loads of options and they have already released 4 expansions.  Over the next several weeks I will be talking more about this game and its expansions.

The basic plays allows for a fairly quick and dirty game as it can get cut throat but why stick with what the rule say?  I am one that likes to expand upon the board games I play to get more out of them.  It gives them longer shelf life.

If you watch our videos over on YouTube the shelves behind us most times are full of my board games most if not all played repeatedly and often.

So what else can be done with the rules to expand it.  Suppose your universe has victories here and there and loses elsewhere.  Maybe two factions is not good enough.  You can add a third deck to your play.  I warn you this disperses the themes of each faction pretty hard so if you go this route be warned.

Another option if you like more choices is you could play teams.  The Wizard-Robot alliance hooks up with the Dinosaur – Ninja and comes in a head to head battle versus the Alien – Tricksters and their teammates the Zombie – Pirates.

If those rules are still not good enough for you, here is my coup de grace.

 We will call it Smash Up WAR!

Take 2 sets of the base game for a one on one match.  Each player gets to record wins and losses. If a faction is defeated (remember it happens 2 at a time) those choices are not usable by that player for the remainder of the war.  For every base that a player conquers they get an extra card in the hand at the beginning of each game.

This option will be time consuming and can be stretched out with notes between each game.  If one player wins non-stop it is a minimum of 4 games.  But if it goes back and forth it still has a maximum of 7 games.

If you are looking for a new game to try or just something that is different Smash Up is a clear choice.

I am Nerdarchist Ted saying, “Until Next Time, Stay Nerdy, my friend!”

 

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Ted Adams

The nerd is strong in this one. I received my bachelors degree in communication with a specialization in Radio/TV/Film. I have been a table op role player for about 20 years 17 of which with the current group. I have played several itterations of D&D, Mutants and Masterminds 2nd and 3rd editions, Star wars RPG, Shadowrun and World of Darkness. I am an avid fan of books and follow a few authors reading all they write. Favorite author is Jim Butcher I have been an on/off larper for around 15 years even doing a stretch of running my own for a while. I have played a number of Miniature games including Warhammer 40K, Warhammer Fantasy, Heroscape, Mage Knight, Dreamblade and D&D Miniatures. I have practiced with the art of the German long sword with an ARMA group for over 7 years studying the German long sword, sword and buckler, dagger, axe and polearm. By no strecth of the imagination am I an expert but good enough to last longer than the average person if the Zombie apocalypse ever happens. I am an avid fan of board games and dice games with my current favorite being Quarrios.

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