This is actually pretty nice. Thanks for the heads up.

Without mods I do prefer 3 but 5 can really shine with Tribes of the East and mods like improved AI and balanced heroes.

Templates can be used to create random maps with various parameters. I've uploaded one on the Nexus website that makes it possible to generate large and extra large maps with 8 areas (one per faction) and a neutral one that must be crossed to get to the others. It's a rich template with 6 abandoned mines, plenty of treasure buildings and artifacts on the map guarded by very large stacks of creatures (by the end of a game most surviving heroes are at least level 26-7 I once got Vinrael up to level 31 with the turban and armour of enlightenment).

What I really like is that there are many different ways to achieve victory and even if the odds seem stacked against you it's never over until it's over especially when playing multiplayer.

Awesome news! I'm really looking forward to seeing what you've accomplished here!

This sounds great! Better AI does make a huge difference.

The halfling pig rider made my day!

I love what Owlcat did with these games but their philosophy is pretty much the opposite of less is more. Truth is I couldn't get into Kingmaker until it got a turn based mode (and I did preorder it).

I've watched some gameplay videos of Chaos Gate and I'm curious to hear your take on this one.

The best time I had playing a W40K game was with Final Liberation back in the late 90s. The game had a great campaign and for a moment I thought Sanctus Reach could fill in these boots but unfortunately it didn't click for me.

Originally posted by Tytalus:

My only gripe is that some of the dialogue is cringeworthy... if you're a fan of the MCU, you'll find this version of Tony Stark - with a combination of Dad-jokes and arrogance - highly annoying.

I agree but I think he's meant to be that way. The voice actor does a pretty decent job imitating Robert Downey's inflections and intonations so it's obvious they wanted to build up on that particular characterisation of Tony Stark as an egoistical, patronising smartass who also happens to be a hero. I'm not a fan of the movies (couldn't sit through them all) but I did grow up reading Marvel comics and for what it's worth I believe the game feels true to the source material (which let's be honest can be totally cringeworthy at times but I believe it comes with the territory).

In all fairness I think it helps if you just roll with this aspect of the game. It's not all bad mind you. There are some genuinely funny moments and it's clear that the devs were influenced by Mass Effect and Persona when it comes to NPC interactions and activities and I can't blame them for that since I for one absolutely love this stuff.

The easy and lazy approach would have been to do a superhero reskin of XCOM 2 and that would have been absolutely terrible.

My advice to anyone willing to give this (great) game a chance is to keep in mind that it was never meant to be XCOM 3 and that the whole microtransaction outrage has been blown out of proportions. I'm not saying it's good practice but you can 100% ignore premium skins and if you want to get them then going for the Legendary Edition at a discount is going to make the whole thing a lot less expensive than buying the season pass separately -new characters are going to be released but at the moment we don't know how much content is actually going to be added (Storm coming out as a DLC was enough to convince me personally -I just hope we'll get a skin with her mohawk look).

I know you've said you're not a fan of card games but Midnight Suns is actually really really good and the most fun I've had in quite some time.

I had misgivings because of the noise online regarding obnoxious microtransactions and the in game store but it's nowhere as egregious as some people say (basically some premium cosmetics are behind a paywall if you don't get the Legendary Edition whereas regular skins have to be unlocked with points you get from playing the game -the better your success in battle and the higher the difficulty the more points you get).

Bottom line I'm glad I gave this game a chance as there is no doubt in my mind that it is truly a turn based gem.

I tend to scan the posts in order not to spoil myself. The good thing is that my memory is not as good as it used to be so I'm pretty positive I will have forgotten what titbit of information I may have gotten that way.

I'm trying to avoid spoilers but it's always nice to be able to follow your project as it develops.

This looks pretty slick but I have to point out that I'm a big fan of hexagons.