Saving the World again... This time from Aliens!!!

Oh yes! It arrived today. 😁 I've had this one near the top of my wishlist for quite a while and I'm glad it's made it's way to my shelf finally.

I took the opportunity this afternoon after my hike in the snowy woods to save the world from the incoming alien invasion (because, why not!?)

I knew I'd like this game. It seemed like it was simple enough to jump in quickly but enough strategy to keep me happy. What I didn't realize was the included campaign!!! Awesome! As I unboxed the game, I was pleasantly surprised by this facing me immediately on the top of the rest of the components. (Well played, Czech Games... Well played). In addition to the stop signs you have a diagram showing EXACTLY what to punch out NOW and what to wait for until you're ready for campaign play. 😎

The rule book is very well done with lots of pictures, examples and straight forward instructions. This game was very easy to dive into after a quick read over of the rules. Like I said, the game is simple enough, but the strategy is what gets you. 😀 So here we go! Time to save the world!

I felt it appropriate to have the Independance Day soundtrack on while I played my first game. Immediately when this game came out that's exactly what came to mind. And it still does. I think it's the Mother Ship that does it. Not to mention the alien ships themselves look pretty Independance Day like. Awesome!

My first game was tough. These aliens do not take kindly to being shot at, and were coming down from the Mother Ship in waves. As you can see, she also decided to spawn a couple white ships to help out her main ships. Crap!

In Under Falling Skies you can lose in one of two ways:

1) The Mother Ship descends to the level of the red skull (seen on the right of the board in the picture above, and unfortunately that was exactly what was happening in game-1).

2) You take too much damage from the other alien ships reaching your town. This was pretty close to ending my game in game-1 as well. Like I said, they're ruthless.

Game 2 was a different story. Although I still lost (damn Mother Ship!), I was doing alot more damage. I shot down several of the invading alien ships in game-2 and was being a royal pain for the Mother Ship at times.

I was doing much better in my decision making, between excavating for more rooms to utilize and researching more often (because that's how you win - get to the top of the research track ... the green track on the left). Having said that, I was made aware how the various decisions you can choose to make can also catch you in a brain-fart! 🤣

The Mother Ship would hit the red skull level in 2-more turns. Research was 100% vital now people!!! I was 2-away from the top of the track and fending off the aliens. My final turn I was at least going to end the game with only one spot left on the research track, which was going to make me very proud. BUT... I didn't pay attention to my energy levels. See you need energy to pay for research. I went to research as I was finishing up my "room phase" and realized I didn't have the energy to pay for my research. NNNNOOOOOOOO!!!!! That was that. The Mother Ship descended on Roswell once again.

Those aliens are asking for it next time let me tell ya! 😁