texts: In Bridge can you ask for an "undo" if you make the wrong bid and do the opposition have to agree it?

texts:
Suppose your partner opens 1D and there is no interference bid. You reply 2S but realise that you should have bid 1S.
Can you ask to take it back? And are the opponents obliged to allow you?


texts: What is a "random" method of picking the start player at which a person could cheat?

texts:
I'm writing a kid's book in which the characters use cards or dice to decide who goes first--and eventually start using the method to determine who has to do certain chores such as washing the dishes. It's supposedly random, but it turns out the father is cheating somehow (perhaps through math). The daughter (12 years old) wonders why she is always losing, and figures out how he is tricking her. (This ties in with themes of the book--the child is being lied to in other ways as well!)
Can anyone help me out? I am not much of a game player myself. The book is a mystery, though, so I want a small example of how she is getting smarter at "deduction."
What method could they use, and how could she use logic to figure it out?
If you can help, thank you so much! :o)


texts:
So I've picked up the Battlestar Galactica: Exodus expansion, and now have the base game, the pegasus expansion, and the exodus expansion.  It has reached the point where it is near impossible to fit all of the components/cards/boards/pieces in the actual box, whilst retaining any semblance of organization.  Does anyone have any recommendations on the best way to build a custom case for this game?  It would have to fit the main board, the New Caprica board, the Pegasus board, the Cylon fleet board.  Ideally, it would have a means to store the 6 different small-sized card decks for the skill cards seperately so that they could be easily stored and retrieved.  Also, if it had small trays for segregating the various ship types (raptor/viper/mk7 viper/raider/heavy raider/basestar/civilian ship) and all the various tokens (damage/trauma/ally/etc) that would be great.  It'd also have to have space for the hundreds of crisis cards, the loyalty cards, the new caprica crisis cards, the super crisis cards, the secret agenda cards, the trial cards, etc.  These tend to be more standard-sized cards, being slightly slimmer than Magic cards but about as tall.

My initial impulse is some kind of modified tackle box.  Are there any better solutions?


texts: What has been your experience with random villager roles in Werewolf?

texts:
In Werewolves there are many Villager roles: normally we play essentially the same roles every time and the players know exactly which are the roles that are going to be used.

If you have 8 players you could choose to play with, for example, 2 wolves, 3 plain villagers and 3 "special villagers" taking at random the 3 special villagers from a pool of say, 6 possible ones.

The main advantage of this variant is that no one knows if a specific role even exists in that round until the end of the round, which may or may not be fun.

The downsides include

the moderator will have to spend more time calling for all the possible roles
using cards from a poker set becomes more of an issue with more roles, so you'll probably want to have cards that actually say which role you are

Additionally, the wolves can fake to be villagers much more easily.

What do you think about this variant?  Have you ever tried anything like this?  What elements were fun at first but weren't in the long run?


texts: In the game of Stratego, is it possible to destroy all 40 enemy units?

texts: Stratego. Both opponents have 40 units each at the start of the game. My question is, is it real to destroy/kill/capture all forty enemy units during a single game? By "destroy" I mean also passive or mutual destruction, not necessarily an active kill. For example, if the opponent's spy is attacking our general, it is still counted as we have killed him.


texts: Does Sosuke, Son of Seshiro's deathtouch-like ability combo with Matsu-Tribe Sniper?

texts:
Let's say I have a Sosuke, Son of Seshiro and a Matsu-Tribe Sniper on my field.

Sosuke's ability is:

  Whenever a Warrior you control deals combat damage to a creature, destroy that creature at end of combat.

and Matsu-Tribe Sniper's (which is a "Snake warrior archer") effect is:

  {T}: Matsu-Tribe Sniper deals 1 damage to target creature with flying.

(only listing the relevant effect for this question)

If I tap Matsu-Tribe Sniper to deal 1 damage to let's say Courier Griffin, which  is a 2/3 flying creature, would that destroy Courier Griffin because a warrior dealt damage? Or does that not count as combat damage? I'm pretty sure this isn't how that works but I would like a second opinion.


texts: Mistakes a beginner should avoid in Magic the Gathering with more than 2 players

texts:
I have been playing Magic the Gathering for several years now and I have a solid understanding of basic strategy and deck building. Until now I have only played against a single opponent. Magic the Gathering supports games with more than 2 players as well and I want to explore such variations.

The first thing two friends of mine and I will try is playing a free-for-all (3 players) where everybody can attack every other player. This changes the game a lot. It feels like attacking gets almost impossible and your best chance is to wall yourself in and hope for the best. Every fight between two players will usually help the third player the most. At least that's what I expect from a free-for-all.

Before I dive into this experience heads on, I want to know what the typical mistakes are, that a beginner should avoid in MTG games with more than 2 player. I am mostly concerned about deck building and game strategy.


texts: What's the best way to play additional lands in a turn? I am assembling a black/white deck but want to play with cards that have higher casting cost. I do not, however, want my deck to lose speed as a result.


texts: Does Vorinclex help its controller or its owner?

texts:
I play a Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger commander deck casually with friends. If one of my opponents plays Mind Control (or something similar) and takes control of Vorinclex, do the triggered abilities now benefit my opponent and hurt me? That is, does it help its controller or the owner?

Also, since my opponent tapped lands to play Mind Control while Vorinclex was still mine, I think the lands he tapped to cast Mind Control stays tapped next turn. Is my thinking here correct?


texts: Does a herbivore gain 1 star if he attacks but the damage is ignored due to armor plating?

texts:
This scenario came up in a game played tonight:

The King is in Tokyo City and has an Armor Plating card ("Ignore
damage when that damage would only make you lose 1").
Alienoid is not in Tokyo and has a Herbivore card ("Gain 1 star on your turn if
you don't damage anyone").
Alienoid, after his second and final reroll, has rolled a single Attack (along with a few hearts).  We all agreed that The King should not take any damage because of his Armor Plating.

Our question:  Should Alienoid gain 1 star since he didn't damage anyone?


texts:
Is there some way to remove or counteract poison counters? Specifically, once you've already accumulated them, not when you are dealt them.

For example, say I already have 9 poison counters. Is there some way to reduce this number?


texts: Is there an official Spanish Scrabble Dictionary?

texts: Last time I checked, there were some issues of contention with how the Spanish alphabet should be represented such as c+h vs ch, l vs ll, r vs rr and borrow letters such as k and w not used for Spanish words.  If I were to play with a Spanish tileset, which dictionary should I use?


texts:
This question is not about a particular situation in the game, but rather how to study the game in the sense of if I wanted to learn Scrabble, I would spend time focusing on how certain uncommon letters can be used in words of length X or the goals of different strategies.

If no one had ever played Risk before, how would we go about learning to evaluate which moves are better for a particular situation?


texts: Are permanent +1/+1 counters considered enchantments?

texts: If a creature has one or more permanent +1/+1 counters are those counters considered "enchantments"?


texts: How does infect step of epidemic interact with mutation?

texts:
As the current player pulled an epidemic card, we do the following steps: increase, infect, and intensify.

  Infect: Draw the bottom card from the deck and put three cubes in that city.  Discard that card.

In this case however the bottom card that was drawn was a mutation card.

  If the purple disease is not eradicated, draw a card from the bottom of the deck. Place 1 purple disease cube (only) on this city.

How do you proceed in this situation?  Does the effect of the epidemic make it so you place three purple cubes in the location drawn for the mutation location?  Does the phrase "1 purple disease cube (only)..." supercede the effect of the epidemic?  Or is there some other interpretation?


texts:
In the part of the UK where I live, a common set of conventions played at clubs and EBU tournaments is Acol based with 5 card majors, weak NT, weak jump overcalls/truscott (and often also Benji/reverse Benji: 2C 23+/9t, 2D 20-22/8t, 2H/S weak).

(Stayman, UNT/Michaels, and transfers are usual as well, but less relevant and more "stand alone", so I'm ignoring them here, and looking at the core of the bidding system.)

I'd like to be more clear how these work together and especially how to bid and interpret the "edge cases", but most books on 5 card major bidding seem to be based on other bidding systems so there's not really any clear guidance I can learn from.

Which would be the closest widely used 5 card major system to this, and what would the main adaptations be from it?


texts: Are there times it's actually advantageous to wait to pay mana abilities until casting a spell?

texts:
In Magic, you have two ways to pay for a spell (or ability):

Collect the mana first, then cast the spell and spend the mana to pay for it.
Cast the spell, play some mana abilities as part of the casting, spend the mana to finish the casting.

I can name some situations when the first approach is more advantageous.
For one, you can collect mana from other sources, like spells.
As spells aren't mana abilities you can't use those in the second approach.

Are there some situations where the second approach is more advantageous mechanically? What kinds of situations are those?
Let's assume no mistakes are made, so no need to rollback an illegal casting.


texts: Does it really matter if dice are randomized?

texts:
I was playing MTG with some friends the other day, when a guy walks up and challenges me to a game. He insisted that he would not roll my spin-down die to determine who goes first. When I pointed out that it doesn't matter, because probabilistically, each side should have a 1/20 chance of showing regardless of the order of the sides, he assured me that there exists a "technique" by which someone could throw an ordered dice such that he has a higher chance to win a dice roll.

Paranoia aside, does anyone know if such a technique exists? Is there any documentation on such a technique?


texts: Show and Tell and permanents that target other permanents

texts:
Say I cast Show and Tell. I put down Angel of Despair and my opponent puts down Crystalline Sliver. "When Angel of Despair enters the battlefield, [you] destroy target permanent". Crystalline Sliver gives all slivers shroud so can I destroy slivers with Angel of Despair's ability?

If Crystalline Sliver entered the battlefield first I couldn't but if it entered the battlefield second, after Angel of Despair did, I could. But what if they enter into the field at the same time?

Also, in this same vein, what if my opponent plays Gilded Drake? Can my opponent target my Angel of Despair with his Gilded Drake?


texts: What are good strategies against counterspell decks?

texts:
I'm currently honing a white-green tokens deck for Standard tournament play. I feel like I have a good handle on my game-plan for most of the other common archetypes, but I'm really stymied playing against the counterspell-heavy blue decks.

It's not hard for a blue deck to run 4x Mana Leak, 4x Dissipate, 4x Vapor Snag, and 4x Snapcaster Mage, giving him plenty of options to counterspell or bounce literally every single spell that I try to cast. I've tried two basic options:

Go aggro. Cast spells as quickly as you can, try to exhaust his supply of counterspells, and hope that one of your plays will eventually stick. (This usually doesn't work.)
Play the waiting game. Wait for him to tap out on my end step and then sneak in a Midnight Haunting, or, more rarely, hope that he eventually taps out or runs out of cards on his turn and gives me a chance to play some creatures. (This works a little better, but is very inconsistent. It depends on Villain eventually giving me an opening, and every turn I wait is another turn where he gets a chance to draw his finishers.)

Is there another way to play against this deck?


texts: Can Ice Witches use Winter markers on the turn they were earned?

texts:
The Ice Witches from "A Spider's Web" have the following ability:

  Ice Witches collect 1 Winter marker for each Magic Source they control at the end of their Redeployment phase. At the end of their Redeployment phase, Ice Witches may place their Winter markers in their own Regions or any adjacent Region (there cannot be more than 1 Winter marker per Region though). A Winter marker permanently augments the Region's defense by 1. It remains on the board as long as the Ice Witches are active. Regions with a Winter marker that are not controlled by an Ice Witch earn 1 less Victory coin than usual.

My initial reading of this was that you earned Winter markers on one turn and could use them on the next. This was due to the fact that both earning and using Winter markers happens on the same trigger - the "end of the Redeployment phase". In other words, by the time you've earned that turn's markers, the trigger that allows you to use them has already passed.

This would be similar to how the Fireball special power works, although that power specifies that Fireball markers are to be used on subsequent turns.

On further thought I realised I was probably reading into it too much and that the power is intended to be used immediately.

Still is there any verification as to which way is correct?


texts: Dozer and Smigg & Gunnbjorne boosted blast damage rolls

texts: So Dozer and Smigg have a bond with Gunnbjorne which states that while in his control range, D&S gain boosted blast damage rolls. If a shot from their Bombard directly hits, is the damage roll auto boosted from the bond?  What I'm not clear on is if a direct hit with an AOE weapon is considered blast damage.


texts: In the Terra Mystica iOS app, what is the "map balanced VP" option?

texts: I have the Terra Mystica iOS app and am wondering what the option "map balanced VP" does.  I'm assuming it's some sort of house rule or optional rule that was added later, but I don't see an explanation for it anywhere.


texts: How to bid a slam when partnership cannot find the best suit?

texts:
The following hand was dealt recently in the Common Game; but only a very small number of partnerships bid and made a slam (1 grand; 2 small slams).

As you can see from the last 2 lines, the computer predicts that 4 different slam contacts are make-able. Would you please let me know if you can see the best way of bidding to reach a slam contract.


texts: What is the 'duration' of Charmed Sleep?

texts:
I have a question that relates to untapping a creature enchanted by Charmed Sleep. It says "Enchanted creature doesn't untap during its controller's untap step".

Does this apply to the following controller's untap step, or for any untap step?

(That is, does the enchantment last for one round or forever?)


texts: Cities and Knights: Lose to a barbarian attack, but no settlements.

texts:
The barbarians come, and the player with the least amount of active knights has a city and 5 settlements on the board.

What happens?

The city would normally get knocked down to a settlement, but all of his settlements are already on the board.


texts: Monopoly: Can I Buy Properties Right Before I Go To Jail?

texts:
I rolled doubles three times in a row, and I landed on Illinois Avenue on my last roll. I want to buy it, but since it's my third double I'm going to jail. I want to buy it right now at the regular market price instead of at an auction because the other players have a ton of money and may bid very high for Illinois Avenue.

Can I buy it now? Thanks!


texts: Name of 60's Milton Bradley racing car game?

texts:
Looking for the name of 60's Milton Bradley racing car game?

The game involved one wind up car, on the floor, no track, and each kid would have a pole that reached to the floor with a semi-circle piece of plastic on the end that would you 'catch' the moving car, it would go around the semi-circle, and go back to the other person.

I believe it may have also had a board.

(Was it just a dream? I have no more info but I do have good memories of it. Came in a standard board game size box.)


texts: Does blinking a Planeswalker restore its loyalty?

texts:
If I were to use a blink effect on a Planeswalker say after an ultimate (largest cost) Loyalty ability (and providing it still had Loyalty remaining), would its loyalty restore to the noted amount on the card?

From what I remember, if a card is exiled, unless stated otherwise, all counters are removed.

If this is so, when the planeswalker returns to the battlefield, would it then add the loyalty counters to match its noted amount back on the card?


texts: Passengers and Fugitives: can they be cashed in at a location, like goods?

texts:
Just as some Nav cards give you Cargo and Contraband, which you can sell to a contact for cash, some situations result in  you having extra Passengers or Fugitives.

I know they may be useful to keep in case they are needed for a later mission, but is there any way to cash in on them at a location, like you can with cargo and contraband?

Im playing currently with the vanilla Core set of Firefly the Board Game, but will accept answers related to the expansions, if its just not possible to "sell" fugitives or passengers in the core set.


texts: When Taranika, Akroan Veteran's ability triggers and I untap another creature, can I declare this creature as an attacker as well? Or maybe attackers are already declared? What happens here?


texts: "Ticket to Ride: Europe": how to accommodate differences in players' strength?

texts:
I play "Ticket to Ride: Europe" with my kids (age 8 and 12) and I win too often. They do not want me to let them win: there's no fun in winning if you know the opponent didn't play to their full ability. We would all love a fair way to account for the difference in skills, though.

So far we experimented with reducing the number of train cars you start with: the youngest got 45, as in the rules, older got 40 and I got 35. The youngest won, but the feeling was it was too easy for him.


texts:
In Black Friday, when all three sales tables on the right have been used up, the rulebook says to reload table 2 and use that one for the rest of the game.

  After all markers are adjusted, he places the drawn briefcases in the market. The player places all colored briefcases from the table that initiated the price adjustment into the bag. If a sales table initiated the adjustment, the players place the black briefcases from this table in the bag, too. Then, the players use the next sales table. After the third sales table is cleared, the players load the second sales table. When that is cleared, they load the second again and will continue to reload the second table for the remainder of the game.

Where are the briefcases taken from to reload this table - The market or the bag?


texts: What to do when you "return a Pokemon to your hand"

texts:
I have several Pokemon that have the ability to return them to your hand as part of an attack.  For example:

  Phione: Auqa Boomerang - 20 damage - Return this Pokemon and all cards
  attached to it to your hand

and

  Shaymin EX - Sky Return - 30 damage - Return this Pokemon and all
  cards attached to it to your hand.

I understand that this happens in conjunction with my attack.  My attack is my last move, therefore do I have no Pokemon in the active position for my opponent to attack?  Or do I need to move a Pokemon from the bench to the active position after my attack?  This just seems to be a conflict of the rules...

Thanks.


texts: Is rent owed when landing on a property because of a card rather than a dice roll?

texts:
If I land on a property because of a card, do I have to pay rent for the property I landed on?

For example, if I landed on Community Chest and the card stated to go to a Railroad, do I then have to pay the fee for landing on that property if it's owned by another player?


texts: Is it impossible to pay off-color mana costs in EDH?

texts:
In Commander, there is a rule that states:

  During the game, if mana would be added to your mana pool that isn't a color in your commander's color identity, that much colorless mana is added to your mana pool instead.

With that in mind, is it impossible for me to pay mana costs that are not in my commander's color identity?

For example, if my commander has a Red/Blue color identity, and I take control of an opponent's creature that has an activated ability with a Black mana-cost, is it impossible for me to pay the cost needed to activate that ability?


texts:
We are playing a version of Canasta.

Tonight we had 6 players and 4 decks. Everyone playing individually. The goal is to get the most points which is most easily achieved by getting a “canasta” - i.e. 7 of the same number including wild cards (2s and jokers). As you play, you lay down your sets (3 or more cards). So you typically know which card number someone is targeting for his/her canasta.

The question is whether adding a 5th deck speeds up the likelihood that someone will get a canasta faster.

Two competing hypotheses (which may both be wrong):

it does not change anything because the odds for which cards you pull should not change when you add another deck that has the same odds. It will be more likely someone gets a canasta with more decks but it won’t change how fast it happens.
it does change because there are more of each card (going from 4 decks to 5 decks means going from 16 to 20 of each number). Having more of each number means that more than one person can successfully get a canasta for the same number.

Does anyone have a model for how to think about this?


texts: Can I combine different races as a single army?

texts: Can I mix soldiers from totally different armies?  I mean, can I have some, say, Necrons in among my Chaos Space Marines?  I have a couple different armies, and I'd like to combine them.


texts: Can I use expansions with the second edition without owning the first edition?

texts:
I'm looking to pick of Mansions of Madness now that the second edition has been released. I know that the first edition had a several expansions released, and I know that the MoM second edition website says that owners of the first edition Forbidden Alchemy and Call of the Wild expansions are able to use pieces to expand the second edition. But the wording is unclear whether or not owners of only those expansions can make use of pieces from them to expand, or if the first edition is also required.

Is there any benefit to buying the second edition and those expansions? Is there anything from the expansions that I'd miss out on without the first edition?


texts: Are rooms drawn because of tiles and cards always considered 'discovered' and thus the symbol on the card executed?

texts:
Page 10 of the rules say

  If you discover a new room because of a tile's or card's effect, and that new room has a symbol on it, you draw the appropriate card for that new room.

Disclaimer: I haven't played the game at all and could probably read through all the tiles to answer this, but don't want to spoil the game.

My question is as follows. What does it mean to 'discover' a new room? Does the character have to enter the room, or do some tiles/cards have effects that will cause a room to appear without the character walking into it? If so, does this mean we do not draw for the symbol?  If all added rooms always result in the character entering the room, then I guess this question is pretty useless.


texts: Does Complete Disregard check a creature's power or base power?

texts:
I've been playing Magic with my boyfriend and I wanted to cast Complete Disregard (CD) targeting one of his creatures, but my question is, does CD work with base power or with power after alterations?
Specifically: the creature I wanted to target was Impostor of the Sixth Pride acting as a Sliver creature, with Cleaving Sliver giving it +2/+0 and also with a +1/+1 counter on it. Now, I am pretty sure that the +2/+0 obtained from Cleaving Sliver matters more than the +1/+1 counter, still, would Complete Disregard work on it?


texts: Does the zombie lord from haunt 21 take damage from a sanity roll?

texts:
We were playing Haunt 21 and I was the zombie lord. My friend had the Ring and the Medallion and decided to use the Ring to attack me with Sanity. Would the zombie lord take damage or be stunned from the attack?

We decided to just make it take damage but I wasn't aware that they could just kill the zombie lord in order to win. It was a close game regardless but it would be nice for some clarification. (The difference in Sanity was their 7 to my 2)


texts:
I've seen various versions of the rules of "Baker's Dozen" (e.g. on about.com, Wikipedia) stating that the rule for kings is simply that they are placed to the bottom of the column they end up in.

But in the version given by Sheila Anne Barry in Great Card Games for One, it is stated that "If a King is lying on another card of the same suit, place it underneath that card".

Does anybody know of another source for that rule, and/or have any notion of which variant is most popular?


texts: Do instant and sorcery cards reach the graveyard before their effects go on the stack?

texts: For example, will a Lightning Strike kill a Haunt of Hightower that just came out?


texts: New Player and Returning Player New Card Recommendations

texts:
I'm a new player learning the game with my spouse's old decks from 1994-2001. We plan on just enjoying MTG at home.  We have no plans to play competitively.

I'd like invest in some of the new cards just for fun as a surprise for my husband. I would appreciate any recommendations for what to purchase, the best "bang for the buck" as it were, to thank him for introducing me to the game.

Thank you for any help. I'm really enjoying learning MTG!


texts: Does Prophet of Kruphix apply to Planeswalker abilities that create creatures?

texts:
The Prophet of Kruphix has the ability

  You may cast creature cards as if they had flash.

Does this apply to the Loyalty ability

  Put three 1/1 white soldier creature tokens onto the battlefield

of the Planeswalker Elspeth, Sun's Champion?


texts: What is the quickest way to setup Dune: Imperium from DireWolf playing single, double or more players?

texts: I recently purchased Dune: Imperium to play with my family over Christmas.   What is the quickest way to setup the board game for single player or multiple players?  Is there a cheat sheet that provides easier entry to the setup or game play?


texts: What are the proper names for the places where cards are drawn from and discarded to?

texts:
Many card games have two sets of cards that aren't in play, but could be:

a pile of cards (face down) that you draw from on your turn,
and a pile of cards (face up) where you discard any cards you're not using.

What are the proper names for these two places?

I wouldn't be surprised if different games use different names, but I'm just looking for the names that are the most common, and the most readily understood.  Also, I'm thinking of both traditional 52-card games, and the various specialty card decks out there (like Dominion or Magic).


texts: Does the "Rule of 15" suggest that you should pass with 13 points (and short spades) in fourth seat?

texts:
Only you vulnerable, you have a  13- high card point hand like the following: (s)x (h) AJxx (d) KJxx (c) KJxx. (No x is higher than a 7). Three passes have preceded you.

The "Rule of 15" suggests that you open in fourth seat only if the sum of your high card points and spades add up to at least 15. It works most often for 11 point hands with four spades. Here, you have the full opening point count (13), but are weak in spades, the highest ranking suit.

On "average," your partner will have nine, or one third of the remaining 27 points, giving your side about 22 (out of forty). Balanced against this is the near-certainty that the opponents own the spade suit. (Partner would have opened with a "weak two" spades with six, unless they were very weak.)

Does this consideration suggest that you should pass in fourth seat, even though you might have opened, say one diamond, in first, second, or third seat?

Edit: I am now also assuming unfavorable vulnerability, that is "only you vulnerable" (the original version of the question said both vulnerable). Does vulnerability make a difference in this borderline case?


texts:
Can you sacrifice Implement of Ferocity in response to a revolt trigger?

So for example can I play a Greenwheel Liberator and then in response sacrifice the implement to give the liberator +1/+1 and then have the liberator get its own pair of counters for a total of +3/+3.

I think the answer is yes, but wondered whether there might be some rule saying the trigger doesn't happen at all if the condition isn't met or some other tricky timing issue.


texts: In Poker, What is the Significance of "Betting on the Come"

texts:
An example appears to be betting when you have only four of  straight or flush (with more cards coming), meaning that you can't (yet) beat say, a pair.

Is this a "value" bet of some sort (perhaps depending on the number players)? Is this mainly a bluff? Or could there be some "strategic" reason for making such a move, perhaps for future hands?


texts: 'Creature Types' vs 'Creature Names' in Oracle Text

texts:
For example: Hand of Emrakul references Eldrazi Spawn. Are these specifically creatures named "Eldrazi Spawn" or the combination of creature types? I would assume it is the first one, as Broodwarden specifically uses the terminology "Eldrazi Spawn creatures."

However, other cards like Festering Newt use different phrasing to specify card name.

I would appreciate any clarification since it is ambiguous with how Creature Tokens are named.


texts: How does the "Bean Protection Rule" affect Bohnanza?

texts:
I learned recently that there is a rule stating "If there is only one bean card in one of your fields, you cannot harvest it as long as you have another field
containing more than one bean card."

My friends have decided to house rule this out of the game, but I was wondering how does having or not having this rule affect the mechanics of the game?

For example:
Does it influence the game length?
How much does this change the implicit value of a 3rd bean field?


texts: What happens if Merfolk Trickster taps Emmara?

texts:
Emmara, Soul of the Accord

  Whenever Emmara, Soul of the Accord becomes tapped, create a 1/1 white Soldier creature token with lifelink.

Merfolk Trickster

  When Merfolk Trickster enters the battlefield, tap target creature an opponent controls. It loses all abilities until end of turn.

What happens if the trickster targets Emmara?

She gets tapped and then loses all her abilities - but does it count as simultaneous so her ability sees the tapping and creates the soldier?


texts: How to balance influence vs territorial plays on a 13x13 board?

texts:
Most of the answers to "What is a good opening on a 13x13 board?" deal generally with the differences between large and medium boards. I'd like to ask more generally about how I should be thinking on a 13x13 board. I feel comfortable fighting on a 9x9 board, and generally on a 19x19 board I prefer to play for influence throughout the early game.

However, I get confused in the middle. With a medium-sized board the center is small, which suggests a more territorial style, yet due to that same smallness, a "moyo" including most of a side is easy to set up, which makes me want to do that. How should I think about these differences in the fuseki?


texts: Can doublestrike kill a creature with totem armor?

texts:
The Battlefield
My opponent has a 3/3 creature in play, enchanted with a Mask token from Estrid, the Masked's -1, which grants the creature totem armor:

If enchanted permanent would be destroyed, instead remove all damage from it and destroy this Aura.

I have Samut, Voice of Dissent in play, who is a 3/4 with doublestrike.
It's my turn and we move to combat. I attack his planeswalker, and my opponent blocks with the enchanted 3/3 creature.
My opponent told me that Samut first would kill the 3/3 creature with her first strike, removing the Aura token instead, and then swing again killing the 3/3 creature. Is that correct?
Research
The rulings of 7/13/2018 from Estrid mention:

If a permanent enchanted with an Aura that has totem armor would be destroyed by multiple state-based actions at the same time (most likely because a creature with deathtouch has dealt damage to that creature greater than or equal to its toughness) totem armor’s effect will replace all of them and save the creature.

Does doublestrike count as multiple state-based actions at the same time? If so, the ruling of my opponent would've been wrong, and the totem armor would've saved his creature altogether. Right? Or am I missing something here? Any clarification would be greatly appreciated.


texts: Does a hit destroy a unit in Axis and Allies 1942?

texts:
We do not understand how to perform the battle sequence with an attacking force of one infantry, one tank, one airplane, one artillery against two tanks, one infantry.

The attacker rolled two (2)s for the attacking units at (3). Does this mean (2) units are moved to the casualty strip and does the defender choose which units to be destroyed? Defender rolls a 5 and a 3 resulting in one hit. Who chooses the unit to be destroyed?


texts: Can you play base-game Claustrophobia scenarios with De Profundis included?

texts:
Perhaps stupidly, I bought both Claustrophobia and its De Profundis expansion both at once.

After doing so I discovered that the designer has stated the scenarios in the base game are not suitable for playing with the material from De Profundis.

This is a colossal pain because it means sorting and removing all the cards and tiles from De Profundis every time we want to switch back to a base game scenario.

Does anyone know why this advice was given? Does it actually break the game somehow, or it merely untested? And has anyone actually tried it to see if it works okay?


texts: Who gets enters-the-battlefield abilities with Bribery?

texts: When I have Terastodon in my library and an opponent puts it into play under his control using Bribery, who gets to destroy the three noncreature permanents, him or me?


texts: settlers of catan expansion: Can I trade with the bank during the special building phase?

texts: Can I trade four of a kind to the bank on my special building phase?


texts: How much of an advantage is going first in Splendor?

texts:
I've only played Splendor a few times so far, but it feels like the first player has a significant advantage, even if we also stipulate that each player receives the same number of turns (resulting in the possibility of a tie).

Is this apparently significant advantage real, or does it disappear with more skillful players? If it's real, what are some modifications to the rules to make the game more fair?


texts:
I played my first game last night and on several occasions I missed scoring a base - miscounting, forgetfulness, etc.  My daughter, ever vigilant, noticed the missed scoring and brought it to my attention. Even though I had already completed the turn, we just scored the base. But I don't think this is the right thing to do.

What do the rules say about this?  I wasn't able to find anything.

Would scoring be done at the end of the next player's turn in the proper ordering?  This would be my assumption and allow the next player to take advantage and add additional minions or move minions off to tip the base in their favor.

Or would scoring be done as it is noticed, even if it's out of order?  I would assume this is incorrect even though this is what we did since we were just figuring things out.


texts: Can Ink Treader Nephilim's Electrolyze copies target players?

texts:
I am curious if the Electrolyze copies created by targeting Ink-Treader Nephilim can be aimed at players for 1 point of damage or if all the damage must go to the creatures that Inky specifies the copies must target.

I have reason to believe no based on the wording of cards like Wild Ricochet, where it specifies on WR that you can pick new targets.

This sort of question also applies to cards like Liquid Fire and Arc Lightning.


texts: How to handle extra settlements if a player cannot continue playing?

texts:
I had a situation at a graduation party recently where a game of Catan was setup with 5 players, using the 5-6 player expansion and the base game.  However, after only one or two full rounds, one of the players had to leave.  The remaining players unanimously wanted to continue playing, but a new person could not be found to take over as a 5th player.

So, the question I pose is how to continue play with 'derelict' settlements, assuming there are still at least 3 active players.  More specifically, I am looking for possible solutions that do not involve restarting, as the situation could arise further along in a game, by which point players are likely too invested in that particular game to consider restarting.


texts: What's the odds of Selvala's parley granting 2 or more mana?

texts: I am trying to figure out what are the chance if getting 2 or more mana after parleying Selvala, Explorer Returned, assuming that using commander/EDH one third of the deck is land and that at least four people are playing. Mainly curious after my friends mentioned way to go infinite if I could reliably generate mana.


texts: Can a player collect nobles after a day ends in Guillotine?

texts:
I was playing the game with two friends and there were just two cards left on the second day, when my friend decided to use the [Escape!] card which allowed him to Randomize and discard 2 cards.

After this the day ended, we drew the next 12 cards. Then, my friend collected the first noble in line, saying that his last play (from day 2) was not over because he didn´t collect a noble, which is obligatory according to the rules.

Is this allowed?


texts: Do bodyguards take wounds when Nazi villains are adventuring for artifacts?

texts: When Nazi villains take wounds from adventuring for artifacts, does this first affect their bodyguards like combat wounds do?


texts: Can I use the Injury and Madness cards from Miskatonic Horror without Dunwich Horror?

texts:
One of the components of Miskatonic Horror are additional Injury and Madness cards, which were originally for the Dunwich Horror expansion. The rules for Miskatonic Horror say this about the cards:

  If you are using the Dunwich Horror expansion, shuffle the new Injury, Madness, and Dunwich Horror cards into their respective decks. If you are not using the Dunwich Horror expansion, return all the new Injury, Madness, and Dunwich Horror cards to the box.

I have heard many players rave about how much fun the Injury and Madness cards make the game, but unfortunately I don't own Dunwich Horror.

Despite what the rules say, is it possible to play with these cards found in Miskatonic Horror without Dunwich Horror?


texts: Identify an unknown letter cube game (not Boggle)

texts:
We managed to lose the instructions of this game and cannot remember the name.  It seems similar to Boggle - but has groups of similar cubes, each with the type in a different colour, and a die.

The box closes the cubes tight so there is no shaking like Boggle. I tried google goggles but with no luck. The box contains the following six-sided dice sets:

6 White dice: D H A R O and a blank.
4 Grey dice: P C I S N and a blank.
2 Orange dice: F U E T B and a blank.
2 Blue dice: J O E L G and a blank.
2 Purple dice: K V I T L and a blank.
2 Pink dice: Q W E S G and a blank.
2 Yellow dice: V U E T M and a blank.
2 Green dice: X T M Y E and a blank.
2 Red dice: Z Y A W N and a blank.
and a plain numbered d6


texts: If I have 2 Super Munchkin or Half Breed (or any equivalent) cards, am I able to use up to 4 races/classes (Or 2 races/classes without any race/class related penalties)? Effectively, do these bonuses stack, or can you only ever have 2 races and 2 classes?


texts:
If a First Mate (power of 2) has been poisoned

  [...] Ongoing: This minion has -4 power. (Minions have minimum power of 0.)

Also, if a Howl action card has been played

  Each of your minions gains +1 power until the end of your turn.

How much power is the card worth after Howl has been played?

Is the +1 from Howl added before Poison? After Poison? Or are all modifiers added up at any given time during the turn?

(Base 2 - Poison 4 + Howl 1) = -1 –> Min of zero
(Base 2 - Poison 4 (Min of zero)) + Howl 1) = 1

Do cards with minimums apply before other actions, or do they adhere to the commutative property of addition?


texts: Name a game that teaches elementary school kids

texts:
I am a Media Specialist in an elementary school. I have created a small gaming library for my afterschool kids - but I would like to expand it to classroom use.

I need games that are under 30 minutes and teach the curriculum of Kinder to 6th graders. That is pretty wide open in scale...but that's my job.

I have the Timeline series, and adventures in Addiplication. These are the sorts of games I am looking for. Fun is my number one priority...but curriculum is the teacher's focus.


texts: How can I make a game of Memoir '44 last longer?

texts: Whenever I have a game of Memoir '44 I feel as if you take ages to set up, and the game is over really quickly, before you have had time to develop tactics. When I win I don't feel like a winner and when I loose I feel cheated. I have tried playing one army just defeat the other, and this became very boring for both players, I have likewise tried increasing the number of victory points you need to win and this has the same problem.


texts: Immunities/Resistance, Red Sign of Shudde M'ell and Equipment Timing

texts:
The spell Red Sign of Shudde M'ell allows an investigator to ignore one of a monster's special abilities other than Magical Immunity, such as Magical Resistance.

I would like to know how the timing of the spell in conjunction with equipment usage affects the value of a combat check.

For instance, an investigator faces a monster of type "Witch" with the special ability Magical Resistance, armed with an Enchanted Knife (+4 combat check, magical weapon) and a Red Sign of Shudde M'ell.  First, the investigator equips the Enchanted Knife, using up one hand, and then equips the Red Sign with the other hand.

How much skill check bonus does the investigator get?  There are two possibilities:

1)  The Enchanted Knife is used against the Witch first, but only gives +2 combat check because of the resistance, so the investigator rolls the two additional dice.  Then the resistance is removed by the Red Sign, giving a total of only 2 bonus.  Since the order in which the items are equipped is important, the player should've tried to cast Red Sign first (because it can fail).

2)  Even though the Red Sign was equipped after the Enchanted Knife, the player must retroactively apply the removal of Magical Resistance against all Magical Weapons equipped in case the Red Sign was successfully cast.  After rolling the two dice for the Enchanted Knife against the magically resistant witch, the investigator can remove those two dice from the pool of rolled dice and then roll an additional four dice to take its place (since the Enchanted Knife would give +4 combat check given the absence of Magical Resistance).

The first case is easier to calculate using a spreadsheet program because more cell values become immutable.  The second one is harder because it involves adding a means to reset the current calculation and a more complicated conditional expression to evaluate all skill check value bonuses depending on the presence and subsequent negation of monster special abilities.

The tactical decisions are more pronounced when there are more hand resources to allocate, such as Marie's third hand for spells.  The player using Marie can decide how to allocate the third hand based on the resulting successes of the rolls resulting from the equipment and Red Sign used for the first two hands.

To recap: How is the Red Sign of Shudde M'ell supposed to affect the value (i.e. number of dice rolled) for a combat check based on the timing of its use?  Does it matter whether you use it first or last?  Why or why not?


texts: In bridge, how do you tell when to use holdup versus blocking plays?

texts:
You are the declarer at a 3NT contract (1NT, 3NT, no opposing bids). West leads what appears to be a five card suit, and you have Axx in dummy.

Your main concern is that East can get the setting trick by attacking a vulnerable tenace you have in hand; something like Jxx in the led suit, or AQx in a side suit (and maybe the the answer to the question below is found in the difference between one and the other).

At times, you should go up with the ace in dummy (if East has an honor and a small card) to "block" the suit. At other times, you should hold up the ace until the third round to exhaust East of the led suit. How do you tell the difference?

A club kibitzer gave the opinion, "You use a blocking play if you're worried about what will happen in the LED suit (e.g. if your tenace is Jxx, above), and you use a holdup play when you're worried about what will happen in a different suit (e.g, your AQx tenace)." Is there any truth to this statement?

I haven't stated whether West led from "top of a sequence" or "fourth best," but maybe the answer to question lies in the difference between the two.

Because another take of this matter is "avoidance." That is, if the priority is to keep East off lead, then let West win if he led a high card, and cover if West led fourth best, to prevent East from getting the lead.

I have been told that if I have something like Axx in hand opposite xx in dummy, I should hold up, and hope to exhaust East of the suit. But if I have Axx opposite xxx, West led the queen (denying the king), and East plays low, I might take the trick to "block" the king in East. Does this make sense?


texts: What are some good general strategies for Eclipse?

texts: I was recently introduced to Eclipse via Big Daddy's iPad implementation. I've been mainly playing the AI as I try to get the hang of this relatively complex game. I'm getting better but I hope that veterans of the board game version can share some of their wisdom with us iOS newcomers.


texts:
So I have another question about counting territory.

$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . O w w w |
$$ | . . . . . O w w w |
$$ | . . . . . . O O O |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------

In this position, all of the squares marked "w" would be whites territory. I have two questions about this. First off, why would none of the other open spaces on the board count for white? In a way, he is surrounding them.
And secondly, If black played like so:

$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . O w X w |
$$ | . . . . . O w w w |
$$ | . . . . . . O O O |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------

Would this automatically negate all of the territory that white is surrounding, simply because it interrupts the border? If so, wouldn't this be an extremely valuable move, because in order for white to take that piece and reclaim all of that territory, he would have to play like this:

$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . O O w O |
$$ | . . . . . O w O w |
$$ | . . . . . . O O O |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------

Which leaves him with three less points that in the beginning. Any answers are appreciated. Thanks!


texts: Karlov attacking together with a lifelink creature

texts: If I attack with Karlov of the Ghost Council and another creature with lifelink, is Karlov getting 2 counters before he deals his damage this turn? Or are both damages dealt at the same time?


texts:
At our bridge game last night LHO opens 1C, overcaller bids 1H, RHO passes, the Partner of overcaller bids DOUBLE, thinking of making a negative double, how should the director rule this.

Diagramatically:

LHO   OHO   RHO  IHO
 1C    1H  Pass  Dbl

How should Director rule?

OHO = Opposite-Hand Opponent; IHO = In-Hand Opponent. This phrasing seems particularly apt for this particular question.

tx


texts: If I am going to build a small ship, which direction should I build toward?

texts:
The center of your spaceship board is on the '7's in all four directions. Since the odds of rolling a certain number increases as that number approaches 7, it seems reasonable to build toward one side if persuing a small ship strategy.

You cannot look at the event distributions until you have placed a single component, so what is the best side to build toward (based on all card events per level), so that you can choose the possibility of a small ship that will take the least damage, before having a chance to look at the events?

Should I only place a component with 1 or 2 open connections as my first piece, and if so on which side?

This question is related to When should I avoid a small ship strategy?

For reference (rulebook), here is the Small I, Medium II, and Large III maximum ship sizes for each stage.

A reference of the 144 ship tiles (original size is available with a BGG account), until I can discover a way to describe the components in text.


texts: Is it possible to win in MTG when you don't have enough cards in your library to complete your draw phase?

texts:
I am confused about the following MTG rule:

104.3c. If a player is required to draw more cards than are left in his or her library, he or she draws the remaining cards, and then loses the game the next time a player would receive priority. (This is a state-based action. See rule 704.)

The following scenario came up in a Magic game I played recently.
My opponent had 3 untapped Howling Mines at the start of his turn. Each Howling Mine makes him draw an additional card during his draw phase, which means he needed to draw 4 cards. However, his library only had 1 card left in it.
Is it possible for my opponent to win the game here? It seems like priority passes basically when my opponent does anything at all, so why does the rule not just say they lose the game immediately? What is the point of allowing them to draw the one card and then move on from the draw step to their first main phase?  I'm assuming there is some scenario in which they can still win, but I don't know what that could be.
Me and my opponent are both new to Magic, so we actually assumed "priority" meant the next time it was my turn he would lose. We ended up letting him play out his whole turn and he actually beat me on that turn by playing a couple spells I couldn't stop. But after looking up what priority actually is I think I probably won?
Thanks!


texts: How can I learn about and keep track of major Magic tournaments in my local area?

texts:
I've been interested in going to a large Magic tournament for a while now, though whether I can go and how far I could travel varies week by week.

I know how to look up the Grand Prix schedule and SGC tournaments. But I keep being surprised by other events — such as TCGPlayer tournaments, a different SGC formats, even PTQs, — only finding out about them when it's too late to make plans to go.

How can I make sure I'm aware of big tournaments near me with more lead time? Is there a resource that can show me tournament schedules from more than just one sponsor?


texts: I have a heavily token based deck. The tokens can usually become something between 5/5 and 15/15 in a few turns, but don't have trample. Is it possible for my opponent to be able to block all of my tokens attacking at the same time and they wouldn't take any damage? And no they don't have cards that specifically say that their creatures can assign additional blocking.  I ask because if what I think is true, then if I have more tokens than they have creatures that can block, then I should be able to outswing them. Please I need clarification on this issue and any help would be extremely helpful.


texts: In Eldritch Horror, how do you deal with cases when an event forces you to draw a condition card that you already have?

texts:
The rules state that a player cannot choose to take a condition when he already has one of that type.

How do you deal with cases when an event forces you to draw a condition card?

As an example, let's say my character has a debt card and he is asked by an event in the game to draw one. Do you

simply ignore this step in the event resolution
flip the card you previously owned and that's it
flip the card you previously owned and draw another one (ouch)
other?


texts:
I've played a handful of scenarios now for Mansions of Madness 2nd edition, but they all seem to take far longer than the "recommended" time in the app. And quite frankly, while I love the game, it just takes too long to get regular plays in.

What general suggestions do you have to complete scenarios in less time? (or at least closer to the time the app states)


texts: Is it unethical to "mislead" partner if s/he is the weakest player at the table?

texts:
Normally (on defense), you try to play in a way to reasonably "signal" and inform partner of your holdings. But suppose partner is the weakest player at the table, and is unlikely to read your signals.
So you shift gears and play to mislead declarer, instead. On the other hand, if declarer were your partner and partner were declarer (with their cards "switched"), you would play a different way.
Essentially, you are playing the "players" and not the cards. This is not considered unethical in other games such as poker or backgammon. Is this considered unethical in bridge?


texts: Magic the Gathering simple damage question

texts:
I was taught by someone who changed the rules so he would always win. I've played with others but I keep getting different answers and the examples always have a creature with the same defense and block.
Based on the picture below would my 6/4 Craw Wurm with enchantment live or die against a 5/3 vampire? Please please please with cherries on top explain!!!!


texts: What brand of card sleeves are most reliable for Magic the Gathering?

texts:
I use Dragon Shield, KMC and Ultra-Pro.

The reviews and forums don't seem to have a consensus on the question, "Which brand is the best?"

But have there been any quality control tests that show statistically one brand is more reliable than the others?


texts: What happens when you create a gap on your board in Wingspan?

texts:
With the base game, whenever you play a bird, it's final. However, with the expansions, there's options to create empty spaces on your board. What happens when you do this?
Imagine this scenario:

play a regular bird
play one of the "play this bird sideways so it covers to fields" birds
play another regular bird
play a bird that can be played on top of an existing bird, on top of the sideways bird

Now what happens?

Do I get to pick which of the two fields the new bird goes in? Or must it be the left one?
Do the birds to the right of it move inwards after playing it?

If they don't move in:

can I play a new bird in the hole? (Or must I, even, when playing a bird on that row?)
What happens when I take that action? Do I skip the hole? Do I start from the hole and skip the birds to the right? Do I resolve the action shown in the hole? (That last one seems too powerful, but you never know?)
If I use a bird that moves when activated, does it go into the slot and become trapped, or does it go to the right-most opening?


texts: MTG: What set is Seelenruhe (Tranquility in German) from?

texts:
I recently picked Magic: The Gathering back up after a 15 year lapse. Currently making my way through what seems like a thousand cards from my childhood and entering them into a card database at DeckBox. I happened upon a German card by the name of Seelenruhe and I'm trying to figure out what set/edition this card is from.

I Google searched and found that seelenruhe means tranquillity in German. An image search, via Google, gave me an image of the same Seelenruhe that I have (plus a Jolly Roger added in?).

However, the image is from an Ebay account that is no longer hosting the image or product, and the Ebay website is written in what I think is German, which I can't read. Therefore, I can't figure anything out about the set/edition this card comes from.

Do cards written in a language other than English, belong to a set different than their English counterpart's set?

- Other Research -

According to CardKingdom, Seelenruhe most resembles Tranquility from the following sets/editions: Alpha - Beta - Collectors Edition - Collectors Edition International
Following How can I tell the difference between early Magic: The Gathering card editions?

    Black Border -> No Right-Side Center Symbol -> Corner Curve Sharpness?
        Sloped -> Alpha
        Sharp -> Not Titled "Reconstruction" -> Beta


texts: What happens if a blocking creature with flying loses flying?

texts: Lets say that both  my opponent and I both have a 1/1 white flying spirit. Now lets say I declare my spirit as an attacker, and my opponent declares their spirit as a blocker.  After they declare their spirit as a blocker I cast Turn to Frog, which causes their spirit to lose all abilities and become a 1/1 blue frog until end of turn.  What happens?


texts: Can a Seafaring race attack the land from a sea or lake region?

texts: As a seafaring race if I conquer the lake in the middle of the map, do the regions adjacent to the lake become vulnerable to my attack?


texts: Looking for name of very old board-type game

texts:
I do not remember if it is competitive, cooperative or solo game.

It is played with small cubes having a different marking on each side representing directions such as straight, turn, an X, diagonal, and two other symbols I don't recall.
The board has numerous square notches in it for the cubes to fit in. The notches are aligned in columns/rows similar to a chess board with connecting lines.
I do not know what the goal of the game is.
I know that the cubes can only be moved in the direction of the marking on the current face of it.
It's possible the game may even be ancient in origin.

I found the game in a book of games that no longer exist. There were diagrams of the game along with detailed playing instructions. I made a physical copy of the game about 20 years ago, but accidentally threw it out last year.
The book I found it in was one of those history-of-board-games books, but I do not remember the title and I've not found the game in other books of those type.


texts: Can anyone tell me what game these dice come from?

texts: There are 7 d6 and a d10.  Sides contain horseshoes, crossbows, swords, wings, faces, etc.


texts: How does "casting without paying mana cost" work with additional costs?

texts: Cards with cascade like Maelstrom Wanderer say "...You may cast it without paying it's mana cost." Does this include mana costs added from sources like Sphere of Resistance, or would it always be cast for free, regardless of additional costs?


texts: What progress has been made in computerized bridge play?

texts:
Computer programs have been produced for games such as Chess, Go, Poker, StarCraft 2, Dota. The best ones, Deep Blue  and AlphaGo , AlphaZero, Pluribus,...  are now considered better than the best human players. More to the point, the computers' game results have been influencing human play.
Apparently, computers are not yet better than human players in Bridge. There can be computer simulations of various hands and hypothetical opposing hands. But what progress have computers made in playing human players in tournaments? Have any new theories of bidding or play evolved as a result of computer-human interaction in Bridge?


texts:
When using the The Enclave of Endlings environment deck how do you handle it when the Baahsto card is in play and is destroyed while it is being resolved. For example while a hero is resolving the effects of the card that was put in play it causes Baahsto to be destroyed due to chain AE damage happening. When this happens does the card still fully resolve and all hero's put the top card into play? Or does it stop at the point where it was destroyed? They way my group looks at the rule is the card needs to fully resolve and all hero's play the top card of the deck even if it was destroyed while it is happening.

Baahsto (7 HP)
"At the end of the environment turn, put the top card of the villain deck into play.
Then, put the top card of each hero deck into play in turn order. If a limted card already in play would be put into play, discard that card instead."


texts: Name of the game where you are a monk collecting scriptures and could become pope?

texts:
I trying to recall the title of a game. I remember its gameplay and mechanics rather well, however its name eludes me.

The premise has you as monks who travel around Italy during the
medieval period, reconstructing holy books. There's a pretty detailed map drawn in the Medieval style which serves as the game board. Edit: Actually the premise is that you are monks trying to construct a common language from analyzing dialects from different part of Italy to come up with a common form of the language.
It uses Action Points system, when you spend 1 AP to move to one
neighboring province,  3 AP to move two. You can also use AP to
gather money. The AP tokens are big purple tokens. You can spend some
AP to unlock more AP.
You are supposed to go to different part of the maps to reconstruct
books from the different pieces.
Towards the end of the game, the Pope will die and one of the players
could become Pope depending on certain conditions.
Name of the game is in Latin


texts: In Dominion: Adventures, does the discarded Traveller have to be in hand, or can it have been played?

texts:
I've read the instructions three times, and I can't understand whether the Traveller card being discarded can have been played that turn, then discarded in the clean up phase, or whether it should still be in hand at the clean up phase, and discarded at that point to trade up to the next level of Traveller.

Secondly, does one need sufficient coins to trade up to the next level during their buy phase, or is trading up free, costing only the discarded card?

I understand that the discarded card should go back in its original pile, not in the Trash pile. I'm just unclear on those two points mentioned above.

Thank you for your help!


texts: In Catacombs, how do the remaining party members deal with a dead Hero's possession?

texts:
The rules (3rd edition) say that

  Only the hero who owns the item may use it and items cannot be given away or traded.

and that

  Players may, but are not obligated to, pool their gold

The Resurrect Hero Service description also seems to imply that a dead player keeps his/her possessions

  The hero returns to life with all of his or her gold coins and unused Item and/or Spell cards.

Is it still possible in this case to add the dead hero's gold in the pool (for instance to pay for his/her resurrection)?


texts: Flashcards to learn Blackjack strategy table?

texts:
I want to remember this basic Blackjack strategy table.

Is there a flashcards deck to learn them? (by spaced repetition)

Preferably in Anki format, but other formats are fine too.


texts: Bidding response to convenient minor bid

texts: If responder to a convenient minor 1 bid has 5 points or less I have been told the correct bid is 1 notrump.  Is a convenient minor 1 bid a demand bid?


texts: Can you play an item card (like a Barrel) if you don't already have one, but someone else does?


texts: Can I still trade 4:1 with the bank if I own any 3:1 or 2:1 port(s) just to get rid of more cards?

texts: Even if I have a more favourable trade with the bank, can I still do a 4:1 trade to get rid more excess resources (e.g. to avoid the robber)?


texts:
We played a game of Perudo the other day and ran into a situation during a palafico round.

Assume there are three players left.  Player A has just lost their 4th die, Player B also has only one die left, and Player C has a few left.  A opens with a bid of two aces.  Can B then bid two twos?  How about three twos?

The rules state that during a palafico round aces are not wild, but it doesn't seem to clarify whether a bid in non-wild aces is still worth double.


texts: Does the 30-point rule apply to every non-manipulating move, or only to the initial move?

texts:
In rummikub, how exactly does the 30-point rule work? Is it:

The very first move of each player must be independent of existing stones and with a value of at least 30. There is no 30-point rule in the remainder of the game

or is it

When a player plays without using any other stones, e.g. puts a run or a group composed completely of his own stones, this must be at least 30 points.

We weren't sure when playing. Which one is it? We played with the latter, but now it seems it's actually the former.


texts: Can I attach Batterskull to a creature of my choice when I put it on the battlefield with Quest for the Holy Relic?

texts:
Assume my board state is as follows: Quest for the Holy Relic with 5 quest counters on it, any creature (call it Bob for now), any rest. I activate the Quest's ability, allowing me to find an equipment in my deck, put it on the battlefield, and attach it to a creature I control. For this, I pick Batterskull, an equipment with Living weapon:

  When this Equipment enters the battlefield, create a 0/0 black Germ creature token, then attach this to it.

Now my question is: Does the Germ enter the battlefield before or after I need to attach the Batterskull to a creature as by the ability of the Quest?
As depending on that, two scenarios may occur:

If the germ is spawned first, then I can attach the weapon to any of the two I like.
If not, the weapon is first attached to Bob, then the Germ will spawn and Batterskull will be attached to the Germ (as by the effect of Living weapon) (please also state if I am wrong on this one).


texts: In what systems are opening 4 card majors ok?

texts: I had several 4 card majors yesterday.  Is there a system that opens 4 card majors.  Partner says no, only in response.


texts:
When the ancient one awakes, what will happen with the another monsters? They stay in the board or just they're banished? And if they stay in the board, the player needs to evade that monster every time, or just one time or never?

The another question is about the dice success, every FAQ and fourum say the number of cumulative success of dies but, what happens when in one whole round is just one success? It accumulates to the next round or it's just lost.


texts:
Partner opens 1D -- I respond 1H -- Partner responds with 2D -- (I have 3 spades, 5 hearts, 1 clubs, 4 diamonds, 13 hcp) --> I'm tempted to bid 3NT now. Should I always get to game with me and partner both having opening strength even if we don't have 8-card fit? In essence, what do I bid here?
- Bidding 2H shows 5 hearts, but not game values.
- Bidding 3NT - we and partner might not have both together NT distribution.


texts:
Some cards require players to have taken damage for a bonus effect to take place. Does loss of life count as being dealt damage?

These are the two cards in specific that I am talking about.


texts: Are normal infection cards still drawn after a player draws an epidemic card?

texts:
I didn't see a clear explanation for this in the rule book so I wanted to double-check.

If a player draws an epidemic card during their turn do they still need to draw from the infection pile as normal? Or is that skipped since the epidemic card already added diseases somewhere?


texts: What is this d6 for? Faces are 0, 0, 1, 5, 5, and 6

texts:
I found a strange d6. It has two "blank" faces, one "1" face, two "5" faces, and one "6" face. Here's a couple photos:

It was in a very old and battered vintage "Risk" game box that was missing a lot of other components, so I don't have any context clues to help me out.
What game (or kit or whatever) is this die for?


texts: Best method for evenly distributing epidemic cards in Pandemic setup?

texts:
The rules for Pandemic call for shuffling the Player deck and distributing the initial cards to each player.  The remaining 50 or so cards are then seeded with epidemic cards by this rule:

  Divide the remaining Player cards into a number of piles according to how diﬃcult you’d like to make the game. Make the piles as equal in size as is possible.

  Shuﬄe an Epidemic card into each pile. Stack the piles on top of each other to form the Player Draw Pile. (If the piles aren’t exactly the same size, stack them so that the larger piles are above the smaller piles.) Put any excess Epidemic cards back into the box.

In practice this is the longest setup step for a game which already has a substantial setup phase.  Does anyone have any tips or tricks for getting this done faster?


texts: Difference between unit and target unit?

texts:
I noticed that some cards such as Cut the Strings state:

Deal 2 damage to a unit you control

While other cards such as Blood Transfer say:

Deal 2 damage to a target unit you control.

The FAQ says the term target is:

  : A term that is used to identify that the effect
  of a spell, ability or dice power is directly affecting
  something (including, but not limited to, an alteration
  spell, a unit, a player, or a Phoenixborn).

But I'm still sure why the game uses the term target in some instances but not others. Is there a difference between a "target unit" and a "unit"?


texts: I have an idea for a card game for couples. I want to go ahead and invest in it, where do I start?

texts:
From my end of the research I have checked that there are no similar games online. The idea occurred to me just a couple of days ago so I dont have much to grasp on. I know it will involve a detailed game play drafted out, rules, testing etc. but I dont want to just share my idea to the world as well. How do I start seeking (trusting) like minded people to make something happen. I am ready to put down some money if I get a good team going along with me!

My exposure to card/board games is that I play it frequently with my friends over weekends. Any resource would be appreciated, thank you!


texts: What are some good strategies against land takeovers in Alexandros?

texts:
I recently purchased Alexandros and after a few games I found that getting a head start makes you the primary target for land-takeovers. A slow start can also cost you the game, however, and make it very difficult to catch up.

Being targeted for land takeover twice can leave you trailing so badly that it's impossible to come back. Usually, the player in second place benefits the most.

Are there any strategies to mitigate this?


texts: What can I sacrifice for Champion of Stray Souls' ability?

texts: I have a Champion of Stray Souls. It says, in short, that I can trade any number of creatures (sacrifice) for any other creatures in my graveyard.  It does not say creatures in my hand or on the battlefield, so my question  is:  Can I sacrifice creatures in my deck or in my hand (or just my hand but not my deck, etc.) to trade in for creatures in the graveyard, or just creatures on the battlefield?


texts: Tool to search for cards with similar functionality

texts:
I'm looking for a tool/website that would aid in deck building, specifically by providing alternatives to a specific card, say Fog. It should respond with traditional data plus suggestions of similar cards like Haze of Pollen or Commencement of Festivities.

I've looked on Google's Play Store, and also tried many of the leading websites (TappedOut, ChannelFireball, etc.) While TCGPlayer and Amazon will recommend cards based on other buyers purchases, those suggestions may not be similar in nature to the first card.

Gatherer does have comments on many cards, but it's too time consuming to scroll page after page.


texts: Can I tap a creature with summoning sickness to pay "tap an untapped creature you control" costs?

texts:
I have a Chosen of Markov on the battlefield and I played a vampire earlier this turn. Can I tap both to transform Chosen of Markov even though I just played the vampire?

Extra Example: I play Battle Screech to put two 1/1 white bird tokens into play. Can I now tap a both of them and another creature I control to pay Battle Screech's flashback cost of tapping three white creatures?

Obviously these creatures couldn't use any tap abilities until my next turn, but since the tapping is coming from a different source, I figured the situation might be different.


texts: Can you removed crossfire cards in Extraction?

texts: The Crossfire mission allows players to remove crossfire cards when defeating all enemies and thus ending the scene. Does Extraction ever allow the removal of any crossfire cards?


texts: What is meant by "built" regarding the Vineyard card?

texts:
On the recommendation of a friend, I picked up 7 Wonders, and two other friends and I played our first game a few nights ago.  When one of my friends played Vineyard, we had a lengthy discussion of what the rules meant.

  The card is worth 1 coin per brown card built in the player's city AND in the two neighboring cities.
  Clarification: The brown cards built on in the neighboring cities on the same turn as the Vineyard are counted.

Emphasis mine.  The key discussion is what is meant by built.  In this context, it's ambiguous as to whether "built" is in the past tense or the future tense.  During our first game, we came to the conclusion that it must mean future.  We arrived at this conclusion through the misconception that the players would be paying the Vineyard owner instead of the owner drawing the funds from the central bank.  By the second game, we had forgotten our misconception, and decided that built must be past tense, as there are far too few  resource cards in the second age, and none in the third, to make Vineyard worth while.  We didn't really worry about it that much, since I discarded Vineyard on the last turn.

So, what is actually meant?  Do I collect a coin for every brown card I have in play right now, as well as a coin for the brown cards my neighbors have in play at the end of this turn?  Do I disregard existing brown cards, and collect a coin when my neighbors or I play a new brown card?  Or is it everything - do I instantly collect a coin for existing brown cards, as well as a coin for each future brown cards when they're played?


texts:
Using Evolutionary Leap to sacrifice a creature such as Pulmonic Sliver (or another sliver w/ Pulmonic on board), in which order does the stack happen?
You would place the sacrificed sliver on top, or do the triggers miss the sliver in question sending it to the graveyard?

Evolutionary Leap

  G, Sac a creature: Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a creature, put that in your hand.

Pulmonic Sliver

  If this permanent would be put into the graveyard you may place it on top of your library instead.


texts: How to get the best value out of gold and gems in MTG Arena?

texts:
I'm grinding MTG Arena pretty hard and managed to get my hands on 2-3 top tier decks by now (while still holding some wildcards).

Up to now i just played Ranked Games to get the daily challenges done. Once I have 5k Gold I play drafts. Traditional drafts seem pretty risky to me since you have to pay a lot of gems while getting a low base-value (3 boosters)

But I haven't figured out yet if it would be better to solely play Constructed events and then buy packs with the acquired gold.

What is the best approach to get the largest cardbase with no in-game purchases assuming a winrate of 50% across all event-types?


texts: In Uno when playing a Wild Draw 4 card, can I choose a color not in my hand?

texts:
If I play a Wild Draw 4 card and the only card I have left in my hand is a red one, can I change the color to green?
Or is it required to have the called color?


texts: Lilith Lady of Lament special summoned by Tour Guide from the Underworld

texts:
By using Tour Guide from the Underworld, special summoned Lilith Lady of Lament.

Q: Can Lilith's effect of tributing monster still be activated? As, tributing 1 dark monster (as a cost), but not have the ability to take 3 traps from the deck.

Tour Guide from the Underworld:

  When this card is Normal Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 Level 3
  Fiend monster from your hand or Deck, but it has its effects negated,
  also it cannot be used as a Synchro Material.

Lilith Lady of Lament:

  If this card is Normal Summoned, its original ATK becomes 1000. (Quick
  Effect): You can Tribute 1 DARK monster; reveal 3 Normal Traps from
  your Deck, your opponent randomly chooses 1 for you to Set on your
  field, and you shuffle the rest back into your Deck. You can only use
  this effect of "Lilith, Lady of Lament" once per turn.


texts: Magic The Gathering, Blinking the source of a transformation

texts:
When the action that makes a card flip back-face up goes on the stack, I use a card ability like the Eldrazi Displacer to blink Archangel Avacyn

After the "blink" resolves, the card I have on the battlefield now is no longer the source of the ability I have on the stack.

In the ruling it says that

  112.7a. The source of an activated ability can perform an action even if it no longer exists.

So, the Avacyn source of the triggered ability no longer exists, but it should be flipped bottom-face up.

What will happen? Will a new object be created? Will the activated ability resolve without effect?


texts: Android netrunner: may I trash a card before I am forced to discard?

texts:
As a runner, if I am tagged and the corp spends a click to destroy a resource of mine, if the resource can be trashed for some good, may I trash it before it gets discarded?

(as an example of such a resource: Tallie Perrault)


texts:
Does a Faded Figure also count as a cube for the purpose of removing a cube?

For example the Funded Event card Remote Treatment, which allows removal of 2 cubes from anywhere on the board,

  can this be used to remove Faded Figures?


texts: What is Astrochain and how does it work?

texts: I just got into Netrunner, and I'm reading up about it, and I keep seeing Astrochain being mentioned everywhere, but I can't find an explanation of it. I know it involves AstroScript Pilot Program in some way.


texts: Can I double Furnace Scamp's triggered ability damage with a 3-counter Quest for Pure Flame?

texts: Assuming I have a Quest for Pure Flame with 3 quest counters on them and my Furnace Scamp deals combat damage to an opponent, can I then sacrifice my Quest in time to double the Scamp's triggered ability damage?


texts: How did makers of "Gwent" set scores for each card?

texts:
I am curious about one thing.
In the game called Gwent the Witcher card game each card has its own score. And also these cards have some potential scores that they can enhance their own scores or the other card in the same line. Moreover these cards sometimes decrease the opponents scores.
I want to know how  they developed such a design that if two player comes face to face none of them is potentially stronger that the other because of scores and abilities of their cards.
Is there a math theory behind these card game? If so, what theory is that?


texts: Why are there five extra turns in tournament Magic?

texts:
In tournament Magic, once time is called in a round, the game stops and the players have a total of 5 "extra turns". If, after those five turns, the game is still not over, the game ends in a draw.

Why are there five extra turns? This rule seems like it gives the player who takes the first extra turn a large advantage - after all, that player has three more turns, while the opponent only has two. Why not six or some even number?


texts: How much mana does tapping a Forest make, with Nikya of the Old Ways & Nyxbloom Ancient?

texts:
I have Nikya of the Old Ways out on the battlefield:

Whenever you tap a land for mana, add one mana of any type that land produced.

I play Nyxbloom Ancient:

If you tap a permanent for mana, it produces three times as much of that mana instead.

I tap a Forest. How much green mana do I make?
Which of the following answers is correct?

(1+1)x3=6
1×3+1=4

I'm confused about the order of the calculation. An explanation is much appreciated.


texts: Small World: Do Orcs Get Race Bonus When Conquering Abandoned Territories?

texts: So Orcs get a bonus for conquering unoccupied territories.  If the Orcs abandon a territory and then re-conquer it later in a turn, do they get the bonus? Technically they are conquering an unoccupied territory, but should it read "unoccupied at start of the player's turn?"


texts: What is the resolution of tapping a blocking creature?

texts:
Let's say I have declared a blocker during the correct phase and during the activate abilities step I choose to tap the blocker to use its ability.

All the abilities resolve and now we move to the declare damage step.

I believe the resolution is that the attacking creature remains blocked and that it deals damage to my blocker; however, the blocker does not deal damage to the attacker.

How would this change if the blocker had first strike? How would this change if the blocker was sacrificed?


texts: Does removing a token from play trigger effects that happen when a dude is discarded or aced?

texts:
Say that I have a Gunslinger token in a shootout and he gets discarded or Aced. Per the card's text, you need to "Remove this token from the game after this shootout."

I presume that this means they go neither to the discard pile, nor to Boot Hill after a shootout. Does that mean that effects that trigger when a dude is discarded or aced happen to the Gunslinger? For instance, the Undertaker deed has an effect that happens whenever a dude is aced. If the Gunslinger is aced in a shootout, does the Undertaker effect still happen even though the Gunslinger doesn't go to Boot Hill?


texts: Am I required to correct my opponent's assumptions about my morph creatures?

texts:
The comprehensive rules state that

  You must ensure that your face-down spells and permanents can easily be differentiated from each other. You’re not allowed to mix up the cards that represent them on the battlefield in order to confuse other players. The order they entered the battlefield should remain clear. Common methods for doing this include using markers or dice, or simply placing them in order on the battlefield

If my opponent makes an assumption about a facedown card based on public information that is wrong, am I required to correct his assumption?

For example, suppose I'm using a red, green, and blue markers to differentiate my morph creatures. I have a blue marked, red marked, and green marked creature on the field. I turn the red marked creature face up, triggering Deathmist Raptor's ability. I choose to return it to the battlefield face down, and put the red marker on it. Since it came from a public zone, my opponent knows that Deathmist Raptor is the red marked card.

Later, I attack with all three morph creatures and my opponent is thinking out loud when blocking. If he says something like "Deathmist Raptor is the blue marked creature", am I obligated to correct him? Alternatively, is he allowed to ask, "when Deathmist Raptor entered the battlefield face down, what color marker did you put on it?"


texts: what is this card game about making an anime or anime character

texts: this card game is sort of like super fight but you use cards that have a single word or phrase on each of them. you combine them in the order that you want to go with a topic the "voter" (basically if it was Cards against humanity they would be the black card) draws. then you go around and argue about why your card combination should win.


texts: How does Orcish Captain work with multiple activations?

texts: I am thinking about adding the card Orcish Captain to my Okaun and Zndrsplt deck. I was wondering, if I activated Orcish Captain say, 7 times at once, and he dies at the first flip. Do the other 6 still happen so I can get Okaun/Zndrsplt triggers?


texts: How many adjacent intersections per harbor are available for trading in Catan?

texts: Each coastal area including a ship has three adjacent intersections. Are all three valid settlement positions for trading, or only the ones with jetties?


texts: Is it ever a good strategy to discard cards in Race for the Galaxy?

texts:
Imagine a a tabuleau which contains both Contact Specialist and Drop Ships, and my hand contains Reptilian Uplift Race and at least one other card, or more generally any other setup which contains both a red to black conversion ability and a total positive military strength in the tableau and a military world in hand.

Is there ever a situation (including cards from any official expansion) in which it would be advantageous to use the red to black conversion ability to settle the military world, thus spending one or more cards, as opposed to simply conquering the military world?


texts: Could I use gryph-chargers for my Warhammer 40k space marines? And would they fit?

texts:
When creating a custom space marine chapter i wanted to make something that was a little unique visually. Right now it doesn't really have anything that stands out so I decided to add a fast attack/cavalry like unit to add to my chapters knight like appearance.
I searched through existing Warhammer 40k mounts and found non that fit within my price range since they were pretty costly and the ones that weren't costly weren't what I was looking for visually.
I then broadened my search to the age of sigmar collection and found the vanguard-palladors.
What I wanted to know is, could a space marine fit on top of a gryph-charger from this set? And if so, would it be acceptable lore and game wise. (If I used them I would use the attack bike datasheet)


texts: How to spend attribute symbol on Gear card?

texts:
We have this hacking rig gear card. Do we discard to use the mechanic attribute on the test? Do we just automatically get it if it's in our hand? Can we just keep stacking those cards to keep boosting our stats?

Cards include: Hacking Rig, Fancy Duds, Fake ID


texts: How do we determine which monster joins the game?

texts: I just played my first game and I love it! I have one question though. How is the monster that joins determined? I tried to look in the pamphlets and online and couldn't find anything. We just had the traitor choose a monster he liked. I don't know how that part works.


texts: How Many Standard Attack Modifier Cards?

texts: I am trying to verify that most or everything came in a Gloomhaven box. However, the rule book has its count for Attack Modifier Cards at 457. I was disconcerted to see I only had 145, until I realized each class has its own stash. I don't love the idea of opening every class, counting everything, and summing them up. What is the correct number of standard cards not specific to any class?


texts: Recommended Axis & Allies alternative rules / variations?

texts:
What rule variations do you recommend for playing Axis & Allies, from ones meant to balance the game to ones that add a little spice?

Here are the variants I've played with - always looking for new suggestions!

Russia cannot attack on first turn. Personally, I don't consider this a rule variation because I only play games where this is enforced.
Bidding system for choosing Axis player(s). Namely, the unit of currency is decided - IPCs or infantry or tech rolls - and then each player writes down how much of the currency they'd need to play Germany or Japan after which all players reveal their bids. The lowest bidders are awarded the Axis power(s) and are given their compensation, either before the game begins or at the start of their first turn.
No economic victory for Axis.
No new factories. This variation makes life very tough on Japan, especially if she has some poor luck in the Pacific to start the game off.
Free weapons developments for Axis powers. Traditionally, Germany gets Jet Power and Japan gets Super Subs, but I've played where Germany and Japan can choose a technology of choice other than Heavy Bombers.
Every country must spend exactly 5 IPC per turn to do weapons development. A somewhat silly variation, but invariably adds some twists to the game.
Two hit battleships. This variation makes for an interesting opening game, strengthening the UK Sea Zone fleet, making it harder for the Allies to take out the German Mediterranean fleet, and giving Japan a little more of an edge in the Pacific.

Are there any other variations you've played with that you'd recommend?


texts: Pandemic Legacy Researcher relationship (Feb spoliers)

texts:
I am not sure if this is asked before but I don't want to search too much as keep coming across spoilers.

My question is, if you have a coworker relationship with a researcher, I know the researcher can then pass any card at any time to her coworker, but can the coworker also pass any card to the researcher, or does it only work one way?

I'm not sure we've got the understanding of researchers and passing cards correct and don't want to carry on the game if we're doing it wrong.


texts: Are there systems or experts that use a "weighted" resource strategy in Catan?

texts:
There is a strategy called (highest) resource strategy in Catan. That is, build your initial settlements on hexes where the sum of the favorable die rolls is a maximum. That assumes 1) that all resources are about equal in value, and 2) an abundant resource is as valuable (or nearly so) as a scarce resource. But both of these assumptions seem counterintuitive.
In this video, a you tuber opined that "one ore > two sheep." That is, he would build his second settlement on a site with less ore than sheep, because the former is more valuable. This person has been blogging and playing for some time, so I assume that he is at least "somewhat" expert. His view also corresponds with my own rough calculations that the relative value of resources is: ore, 5, wheat 4, wood and brick, 3, and sheep 2. Taking the base of 3 for brick wood, I come up with value coefficients of 1.6, 1.3, and 0.7 for ore, wheat, and sheep respectively. I then multiply this vector by the values of ore, wheat and sheep to come up with a "dot product" that gives me an adjusted resource value. In this example, an ore hex with two die rolls is worth more than a sheep hex with four die rolls, because 2 x 1.6 (=3.2) >4x0.7 (=2.8).
Do any systems or experts "re-weight" resources using an algorithm similar to mine and then choose intersections for early settlements accordingly?


texts: How does ignoring the first retreat flag work?

texts:
In Memoir '44, if an infantry unit is surrounded by sandbags, the rules state that the unit "may ignore the first flag rolled against it." I can come up with two interpretations that seem to have very different implications of the power of a sandbagged unit:

In order to force a retreat you must roll two flags during one attack (e.g., roll two dice, get two flags, the unit retreats). Sandbagged units are nearly impossible to force a retreat without resorting to using certain tactic cards.
You can roll one flag on one turn, then on a subsequent turn you may roll another (single) flag, and this forces the sandbagged unit to retreat. Sandbagged units are still difficult to force away, but not nearly as bad as (1).

What is the correct interpretation?


texts: Will Heroic trigger if a spell would cause the creature to lose all abilities?

texts:
So me and a buddy of mine got into a argument: he had Setessan Battle Priest out which has heroic

  Whenever you cast a spell that targets Setessan Battle Priest, you gain 2 life

Then he played Turn to Frog, which takes all abilities away and makes it a 1/1 Blue Frog until end of turn. He said he gained two life because Heroic triggers from the spell. I said that it took away the ability so it doesn't activate. Who was right?


texts:
In the new pokemon Ban List it says that FoGP and Archeops are banned in Expanded.

It kind of makes sense to say that, since they're not in Standard, but does that mean they're not banned in Unlimited?

i.e. am I allowed to make a deck with these cards if it was an unlimited deck?

Yes, I know they're not banned yet but you know what I mean.


texts: Firefly artful dodger starting drive core

texts:
In firefly, the bonus ship (the artful dodger) available in more recent printings of the game has several differences, including a different drive core.

During set-up, the players are supposed to take a drive core from the set of starting drive cores, however there is no such card for the artful dodger. The same drive core is however available for purchase within the game.

Should the pilot of the artful dodger play without any card for their starting drive core, and take the effects as written? or should they claim the corresponding core from the purchase decks, removing it from the pool for other players?


texts: Food Truck Champion: Does the Owner card count to the 6 card hand limit?

texts:
Does the Owner card count to the 6 card hand limit in Food Truck Champion? Since I am not a mother tongue in English I don't quite understand the sentence in the rules: 'If the Owner card is in your hand, it counts towards your hand limit of 6 cards'.

Thank you for your answers in advance.


texts: What happens when you are unable to move in Stratego?

texts:
What happens if you are a in a situation in which you are unable to make a valid move in Stratego?
For example what would happen in the following situations:

Your only pieces remaining are the stationary bombs and flag pieces
You have non-stationary pieces, but they are trapped behind your bombs/flags and therefore unable to move


texts: American canasta - initial meld question

texts: If the person to my right puts down an initial meld that is less than the required number of points but no one notices it until I have played my hand, what happens?


texts:
Is it possible to play a land card when the stack is filled with unresolved spells and effects waiting to do their work? It may be useful since MTG came out with his new (at those times...) Landfall ability (Zendikar, if I remember well...). So, I question this because some years ago I was trying to counter a spell, but my opponent played a land card – to let some landfall ability to trigger, and get some advantages  from this – and at the end of this stack he finally cast his spell. I lost the game some turns later.
All I’m asking is already described above, but I ask it once again: Is it possible to play a land card when the stack is filled up?


texts: In Lords of Waterdeep, how is Accelerated Plans played?

texts:
In Lords of Waterdeep the intrigue card Accelerate Plans says:

  Choose one of your agents assigned to Waterdeep Harbor. Return it to your pool, then immediately assign two agents.

Our resident "expert" says that this requires you to have one agent already in Waterdeep harbor before you can place an agent and play this card. Is this correct?


texts:
I have Sedris, the Traitor King on the battlefield and a Grinning Ignus in my graveyard. I use the unearth ability Sedris grants to unearth my Grinning Ignus. Can I activate the Grinning Ignus's ability, even though if I try to pay the cost the Ignus will get exiled instead of going to my hand?

Can I do the same with an Ovinomancer, provided I activate its ability in response to its enters-the-battlefield trigger?

More generally, is there a rule that governs what happens when a replacement effect modifies the payment of a cost?


texts: In Catan, how do you decide which "fifth" resource to neglect?

texts:
In Catan, there are five resources: wood, brick, wheat, sheep, and ore. You get two free settlements that can access up to three resource hexes for a total of six. An "ideal" placement will let you access two hexes of one resource, and one of each of the other four (that is, all five). But sometimes, this is not practicable, and you have to choose four resources to access with your first two settlements, "neglecting" the fifth. In that case, how do you choose which resource to do this with?
I would imagine that you might "neglect" a resource that you can trade easily for, or be able to access quickly with a third settlement. And that you would come to these conclusions after studying the board. How would these considerations, or others I haven't mentioned, impact your decision?


texts: Using a joker when you can't make any other moves

texts:
Consider the following scenario:

1) There are no more tiles to be taken.
2) I have 9 tiles (none that form a run or set)

...except I have a joker and 2 tiles in hand, which would make a run.

Do I have to use that joker or can I pass my turn?


texts: Does Largest Target affect only whoever uniquely has the most HP?

texts:
The Largest Target Crossfire card says

  At the start of each turn, if any runner has more HP than the others,
  that runner takes 1 damage.

Does this mean that each turn if there is a single runner with more HP than every other runner, he takes 1 damage? Brutal.