Too Many Bones Solo: Boomers Away! (Legendary)

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Yowza - so I must have had a setting wrong because this published a lot earlier than I thought it was going to, but why not get this party started! :) I'm looking forward to diving into Too Many Bones in the upcoming months, so I hope you all are, too! Happy Gaming! Greg

[@Coliandro_]

Love your playthroughs Greg! I thinked about it a lot because this game is reaaaally expensive but finally I got it yesterday and I can't wait to try it. You're right, rulebook is so confusing for a game like that, but your simple explanation of the gameplay seams super clear, thanks.

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Thanks, man! This is a fun game to explore for sure. Even considering how poorly organized that rulebook is. 🤣 Enjoy!

[@louiesamuel9189]

This play through helped. I just played my first game with Boomer and I was playing him completely wrong. I was not locking the scraps dice and I was rolling them from scratch and getting rid of them every single battle. That and I was resetting the grenade dice fight. No wonder why I was getting my butt kicked because it would take several times just to get the bombs going.

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

It’s a very understandable mistake! TMB can be a real bear to learn, esp since each gearloc can really be considered the equivalent of a whole new game.

[@jayplays4215]

I really enjoyed this video! I could watch TMB playthroughs nonstop, since everyone seems to build their gearlocs differently... and because I don't get my copy to table as often as I should! Definitely in favor of more TMB content!

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Thanks, Jay! I’ve certainly got more TMB content planned - at this point, I’m having a hard time getting it off the table. 🤣 And, judging from the response to this video, maybe I should be getting some more gearlocs sooner than I was thinking I would! 🙂

[@jayplays4215]

@@SoloPlaythroughs There's something about TMB that makes it fun to just *have.* I have a bunch of stuff that I haven't used yet, largely because the dice are so fun and the chips are so satisfying to mess around with. ;)

[@davew1337]

Thanks for the video. Been playing this a lot in the last few weeks since purchasing. My only comment is in the current rules, you don’t draw an encounter and decide if you want to challenge the tyrant instead. You do that prior to drawing an encounter.

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Thanks for the comment, Dave. I remember the tyrant/encounter choice being somewhat ambiguous but would be good if that was made clearer in later printings. I tend to face the tyrant on the last possible day now so I haven’t thought about this in a while!

[@nunt2]

Oh wow, perfect timing! I have been looking for my new "solo summer vacation" game and eyeing Too Many Bones.

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Nice! It's pretty much as advertised. I hope you find this video helpful!

[@boardgametime3727]

Yessss so glad we’re going to get TMB on the channel! You’re such a good player. Thanks Greg!

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Thanks for the comment and the kind words! Really didn’t expect this video to generate this many views so quickly but it’s legitimately outpacing everything else I’ve done...by a lot!! 🤣

[@SaschaKleiber]

I just got into this game with rulebook 2.1. I don’t know what they changed since your version, but I thought the rulebook was very accessible. Especially if you use the official KZbin videos accompanying the rulebook.

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

I appreciate this counteropinion. For me, I find the organization to be a little wacky and I still find that they went for "cuteness" and humor at the expense of clarity a few too many times IMO. But it's far from the worst rulebook I've ever read. :)

[@SaschaKleiber]

@@SoloPlaythroughs didn’t mean to sound offensive, sorry. ;) loved your Playthrough, learning the game atm.

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

@@SaschaKleiber I took no offense! Always appreciate constructive differences of opinion. 🙂

[@ricardooskam1657]

My last birthday I had to make a tough call between this game and Spirit Island. Appreciate being able to watch a playthrough to see if I should get this game or Mechs vs Minions for this year!

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Hey Ricardo! So, I have Mechs and it’s really good. Two thoughts: 1. TMB is far more replayable IMO - once you get through the campaign in Mechs, you can fully reset it to play again and you might want to once or twice, but it’s not the same as the ever evolving sequence of puzzles and gearloc builds in TMB. 2. Mechs is soloable in a sense but it’s better coop. Part of the fun of Mechs is how your friend’s programming messes up your plans, and I think that would be lost solo. But Mechs is really a great experience so you can’t really go wrong here! It’s also a lot more accessible, too. 🙂

[@ricardooskam1657]

@@SoloPlaythroughs Sounds like my concerns, yes. A friend told me that Mechs is lacking replayability, but great value and good fun. This playthrough also had me convinced it's more accessible, which is a real concern. Though I solo every now and then, I enjoy co-op a bit more. Mostly with my girlfriend, but maybe at some point in time, this whole pandemic thing might end. Luckily, I still have time to decide. May have to spend a bit and get both. Either way, thanks for answering!

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Any time! Sounds like your friend gave you some great advice! Again, Mechs is really good. I’ve actually been talking to a couple friends about playing through it one more time. And then I’ll probably sell it. But there really is a ton to like in that game.

[@johnathanrhoades7751]

Fun to go back and see your first TMB play! Love this game so much. Just finished a mid-length two-handed game with The Lab Rats and Gasket. Such a good game 😄 But yeah. Watch a "how to play" before reading the rulebook...

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Awesome! I'm really excited to get a ton of new gearlocs soon! Lab Rats, Dart, and Gasket are the three that I'm most looking forward to learning. :)

[@johnathanrhoades7751]

@@SoloPlaythroughs I love Lab Rats and Gasket. I've only played Dart once so far. It wasn't love at first play, but they're definitely very interesting.

[@georgea5162]

Quick note: the win was legit, the splash damage from Frag would be absorbed by the active Defense! Edit: The 'Age of Tyranny' expansion also adds Epilogue cards (and, if you are playing a campaign, gives you the option to pick up the Tyrant's special die as Loot!)

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Huzzah!!! Thanks, George! This might be the first time a comment gave me back a win as opposed to taking one away! 🤣 And thanks for the heads-up about Age of Tyranny. I just started exploring Undertow and was guessing that the campaign mechanics in Age of Tyranny were similar. 🙂

[@joshb4613]

Nice one Greg. I'll keep this video in mind when my own copy ships one day in the distant future when burncycle releases ;-) Fun game, but yeah, probably need to read the rule book to also follow along with this one, even though the rulebook is universally considered bad.

[@RocketMagnetUK]

PDFs of the Manual and Ref sheets are on the CTG website.

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Nice! And, Josh, you’ll have to be the one teaching me about Burncycle. 🙂 I did end up jumping in on only Hoplo: Victorum when I saw you could get only that at a decent price but, despite looking really great, Burncycle wasn’t grabbing me for whatever reason. Thanks for sharing the tip about all the pdfs online, Rocket!

[@kadel300]

I genuinely don't understand why people think the rule book is so convoluted and confusing. I thought it was excellent.

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

I appreciate the perspective. I think the biggest problem is organizational, as the rulebook is not organized in a way that is intuitive for many people. Plus, the game could really use a thorough rules reference. IMO, the rulebook errs on the side of being “cute” rather than being clear, including in its use of acronyms and dialogue when point by point explanation would have been more helpful for many players. But perhaps the biggest problem with the rulebook is that it doesn’t anticipate many of the ambiguities that arise during gameplay. I read a lot of rulebooks. For how I learn games, this one was the worst I’ve read on first read.

[@jonudelson5320]

Awesome seeing you play this! I was going to ask if this is a game you were thinking about featuring on the channel!! I just picked it up a couple months ago and have been loving it.

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Hey Jon! Glad to see this video is so welcome on here. I’ll likely be featuring at least one TMB vid a month for the foreseeable future!

[@cauchi28]

Wow, didn't know you used to play the cards :'D We need a "Know your Solo Playthrough" video, and give us a little insight of Greg's life so far, and what led you to board games and this channel :)

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Mrs. Playthroughs and I were just recently talking about that actually. 🙂 Perhaps at the two year mark in November!

[@bryanscollick8305]

Well done, Greg. You did a fantastic job showcasing the game. I often have a laundry list of rules and strategies, but you acknowledged all the mistakes. The decision to take dex is always a great choice! I hope to see many other Gearlocs! Two-handed solo has the advantage of using the General encounter cards (expanding new encounters) and higher level baddies. Quick question- was it a conscious choice to play on the most difficult mode? You did not take any health or training before the game. Bold choice for a first on air run!

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Thanks, Bryan! Yeah - I hear that about the ability to use the general encounter cards if playing multi-handed. I enjoy them a lot when playing coop. 🙂 As for playing on Legendary, I’ll admit it was an accident at first and, by the time I realized, I was just so used to playing that way. If you find a way to win that batter on Day 2, I find it plays really well, but I might start lowering the level if/when I run into a gearloc that I struggle being competitive with.

[@RocketMagnetUK]

Was wondering if you were going to do TMB. I've also just got Cloudspire and the manual is pretty good but for me the Solo hand holding walk through stops too early and generally it breaks my rule of .. please don't make me read/reference the Multiplayer Rules to learn the Solo Mode. Really good TMB summary at the start.. nice stuff.. and looking forward to your CS content to help me. The TMB Rule Book is tough to follow and videos or someone who knows how to play is the way to go then read the manual. Don't sweat mistakes even veterans make errors and disagree constantly in certain situations and rules "edge" cases. Not sure if it's an error but are you aware you are playing on hardest difficulty .. Legendary Adventurer mode? ... Page 23 of the V2.1 Rules explains. I played this mode initially True solo and found Legendary difficulty a little bit too swingy with only one Gearlock. Warning! the 10% Part: I know you wont like this and it will put this post into the annoying 10% but when you learn a few Gears blah blah blah etc..... Still if you enjoy it true solo you'll still get to see how more Gears fundamentally change the game when you play multiplayer with someone else then you'll get a good idea if multi hand is for you. I personally found the very small stack of Solo encounter cards quickly became way too repetitive for me. So yeah 40 Days is a really good idea as you get another 12 Solo cards.. but I've never played True Solo 40 days.. hmm that's a point I may actually play a game TS to see what's in there :)

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Thanks for all the thoughtful comments, Rocket! Yes, I know I’m playing on Legendary and it’s working for me so far - but it does make the second day a little precarious though... 🤣 As for the true solo/coop thing, having played with a couple different friends, I really have enjoyed the way the game takes on a different kind of life with two players. The solo puzzle is just currently my preference when I’m alone, esp as I’m going to be trying to feature the different gearlocs on the channel. That said, I am looking forward to having more encounter variety!

[@RocketMagnetUK]

@@SoloPlaythroughs Yeah in Legendary mode you can't afford to lose many encounters with some of the Tyrants and Gearlocks , it's quite possible/inevitable to get what are effectively impossible encounters... but that's the fun bit when you do scrape through. Still you can get very easily get one shotted and not even move :). Playing the easier modes does give you some training points to experiment with other fun skills and not just go down the usual stat buffs route and optimal skills only... so there is that consideration. Problem with TMB is people will back seat drive and I'm a guilty of it myself sometimes but the real fun of TMB is just trying out the different stuff and not listen to people on what's optimal. Gaming Rules does live play throughs and the streams were much more fun when he banned tactical advice.. only rules stuff or if he asks explicitly what to do... Yep so you do what you enjoy.. but you'll need 40 Days as it doesn't take many games to see all the Solo cards in the base.

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Live playthroughs with games of this level of strategy can be tricky, esp with a channel as huge as Grogan’s. So that’s a good rule for him to implement. In my own live playthroughs of Spirit Island or Mage Knight, my audience rarely exceeds 20 people, so there have only been a couple of times when I found strategy advice generally distracting and excessive to the point of unhelpful. But the fact that this can happen is why I choose my live playthroughs carefully. That said, I’ll likely try my first live playthrough of TMB some time in August or September. 🙂

[@xebeched]

I believe your baddie movements were wrong. Baddies should move “towards” to target but when you move straight, your second move is actually not towards to the target because it doesn’t gets you closer (geographically speaking) and the way you move them provide great but unfair advantage to you. If you have moved down-right instead of down-down like you did you’d get caught in the next turn but with the way you move them it’s impossible for them to catch you as long as you make two moves

[@xebeched]

Regarding day 5

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Hey, Arda. I understand what you are saying, but what I did here is entirely within the rules. “Closer” only cares about space count - not actual distance. This seems to be one of the reasons that Undertow gave all units diagonal movement in Fatigue Rounds. I have seen a few discussions about whether it makes sense to house rule TMB so that baddies always move as you suggest, and I don’t entirely disagree with the idea. This is one of my older TMB videos and I find myself using this tactic very rarely in my more recent games of TMB. Thanks for the comment!

[@xebeched]

@@SoloPlaythroughs thanks for the kind response. Yeah, I'm unfortunately coming from a few years behind. But overall was a very cool video, thanks again!

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

@@xebeched Any time! Thanks for the thoughtful comments!