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Rolling Dice & Taking Names Gaming Podcast

Rolling Dice & Taking Names Gaming Podcast

By: Pickaxe
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About this listen

 Rolling Dice and Taking Names is a podcast where two seasoned tabletop gamers have discussions about board games, RPGs, and miniatures that are entertaining and informative to casual gamers and experienced hobbyists alike. The level of conversation would be similar to friends sitting around the kitchen table playing the latest game, discussing their likes and dislikes of a style of game, or just trying to make sense of the latest gaming news. In addition, special guests add their gaming knowledge to help the hosts sound more credible. Family friendly, informative and always striving to be entertaining.Pickaxe
Episodes
  • Episode 371: Thebai, Wunderwaffen, 3 Witches, Two Towers Trick Taking Game

    Episode 371: Thebai, Wunderwaffen, 3 Witches, Two Towers Trick Taking Game
    Feb 24 2026
    00:00:30 Intro00:03:30 GMT Camden Game Convention00:11:00 Timeline: Games and Leisure00:13:00 LOTR: Two Towers Trick Taking Game00:15:00 Portal Games00:16:30 Thebai00:41:30 3 Witches00:50:30 Miniature Market00:51:30 WunderWaffen01:11:30 Muppet Show Reimplement01:16:30 Outro We finally got Thebai, the newest release from Boards & Dice, to the table. After seeing it at Gen Con, the production immediately caught our eye, and the designers hinted at the kind of tough, timing‑sensitive decisions players would face. That promise absolutely shows up in play. Turns are wonderfully clean—place your die, resolve the action, then move your Archon for a bonus action—but the simplicity hides a surprising amount of depth. Positioning is everything. The strongest move in the moment can easily create problems down the line, and the board state shifts just enough each round to keep you second‑guessing your priorities. On top of that, the looming battles add a steady undercurrent of tension. You can’t ignore them, even when you’re tempted to chase a clever combo elsewhere. Thebai ultimately becomes a race for victory points, and the endgame accelerates fast. Points pour in quickly, so timing your big plays matters just as much as choosing the right ones. It’s a sharp, elegant design—easy to teach, but full of those delicious “oh no, that changes everything” moments that make Boards & Dice titles so satisfying. We love historical games that look beyond the familiar battles and instead explore the lesser‑told moments—especially those late‑war pivots where everything hangs by a thread. WunderWaffen fits that niche perfectly. The Allies are closing in on Germany, and the German player is scrambling for a last‑ditch path to victory through experimental research. It’s a tense, asymmetrical setup, but not a simple 3‑versus‑1 scenario; only one player can win, so everyone has to keep each other in check, even if that occasionally means helping Germany to prevent someone else from running away with the game. One of the standout mechanics is the turn structure. Each round, you choose two of your three action tokens to use and must hand the third to another player. That single decision point creates delicious pressure—what you keep, what you give away, and who you empower all shape the board in subtle ways. It’s a small rule with big strategic consequences. The game moves quickly, and for groups that enjoy negotiation, table talk becomes an extra layer of strategy. Deals, promises, and threats can shift the momentum just as much as the research tracks or battlefield positioning. WunderWaffen ends up being a fast, interactive contest of timing, leverage, and opportunism—exactly the kind of historical “what‑if” experience that keeps us coming back. Thanks for listening and be sure to join our Discord server Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 22 mins
  • Episode 370: Arkwright, Pondscape, More of a Band Thing, Arkham Horror: Film Fatale

    Episode 370: Arkwright, Pondscape, More of a Band Thing, Arkham Horror: Film Fatale
    Feb 10 2026
    00:01:00 Intro00:08:30 Cyberpunk Trading Card Game00:16:30 Taste Buds00:19:30 Portal Games00:21:30 Arkwright00:48:30 Miniature Market00:49:30 Arkham Horror: Film Fatale00:59:00 Plum Island: More of a Bad Thing01:07:30 Pondscape01:13:30 Outro Arkwright is an economic engine-builder that revels in its own weight. It drops players into the heart of the Industrial Revolution and asks them to run competing factories—managing workers, improving machinery, manipulating prices, and navigating the volatile tides of supply and demand. What makes it so gripping is the way every lever you pull affects the entire market. Lowering prices might boost sales but crush profits; upgrading machines cuts labor costs but risks unemployment penalties. It’s a game where efficiency is power, foresight is everything, and every decision feels like it echoes across an entire industrial landscape. We’re heading back to Plum Island to talk about the desperate scramble to evacuate civilians from an infected coastline—and how the new expansion tightens the experience into a sharper, faster, and even more chaotic rescue puzzle. But that’s not the only horror creeping into the episode. Marty and Vanessa dive into Film Fatale, the newest scenario for Arkham Horror: The Card Game, where silver‑screen nightmares spill into reality and investigators find themselves trapped in a reel of stylish, cinematic dread. To balance all that terror, we close things out by building something far more peaceful—an entire ecosystem in Pondscape. Frogs, insects, and shifting waterscapes weave together as we try to craft the most harmonious (and high‑scoring) pond possible. It’s a gentle puzzle with clever spatial decisions, offering a refreshing contrast to the tension earlier in the show and reminding us how beautifully varied the board‑gaming world can be. Thanks for listening and appreciate all the support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 21 mins
  • Episode 369: Cthulhu Dark Providence, The Gilded Realms, Fantasy Realms: Greek Legends, Campy Creatures

    Episode 369: Cthulhu Dark Providence, The Gilded Realms, Fantasy Realms: Greek Legends, Campy Creatures
    Jan 27 2026
    00:00:40 Intro00:15:30 Portal Games00:17:00 Cthulhu: Dark Providence00:38:30 Campy Creatures00:44:15 The Gilded Realms01:13::00 Miniature Market01:14:00 Fantasy Realms: Greek Legends01:20:00 Outro A long time ago, we got to play the game A Study in Emerald, so we were very interested in the reimplementation. Cthulhu Dark Providence plunges players into a tense, investigative struggle against cosmic dread, blending noir‑style mystery with the creeping inevitability of Lovecraftian horror. The game uses the combination of tight resource decisions, escalating threats, and growing insanity that make every choice feel like a step deeper into the abyss. But is it better than what we remember, take a listen to find out. Campy Creatures and Fantasy Realms: Greek Legends offer a wildly different moods, each with its own charm. Campy Creatures is a fast, clever bluffing game where you command classic movie monsters to outwit rival mad scientists. Fantasy Realms: Greek Legends adds mythic flair to the beloved combo‑building formula, letting players craft powerful hands inspired by gods, heroes, and legendary artifacts. Together, these games form a vibrant spectrum—from spooky pulp fun to grand fantasy world‑building—each scratching a different strategic itch. The Gilded Realms blends city‑building with a clever, almost puzzle‑like tableau system that evolves every round. Cards you place steadily march downward through your tableau, and when they reach the bottom, they convert into precious resources—fuel for expanding your kingdom, unlocking card abilities, or mustering an army before the looming invasion arrives. That slow, predictable cadence creates a satisfying rhythm: every placement is an investment, every advancement a small payoff, and every turn a chance to set up something bigger. Interaction is light, with only the occasional skirmish to break the solitude, so most of the tension comes from managing your own tight economy. Resources never feel abundant, and the game constantly nudges you toward tough, meaningful decisions about what to prioritize and what to sacrifice. If you enjoy kingdom builders that reward planning, efficiency, and a touch of long‑term foresight, The Gilded Realms is absolutely worth exploring. Thanks for listening, we really do appreciate it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 29 mins
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