Cosmic Encounters

Review: Defenders of the Realm:: What you get and how to play: A Pictorial Overview & First Impressions of an exciting new cooperative fantasy game

2010-06-25T11:49:00.000-07:00

Review: Defenders of the Realm:: What you get and how to play: A Pictorial Overview & First Impressions of an exciting new cooperative fantasy game: "

by EndersGame

Introducing Defenders of the Realm

Here's a recipe for gaming success:

1. Start with the gameplay of successful cooperative game like Pandemic

2. Add in a fantasy theme

3. Add one famous fantasy game designer (Richard Launius, creator of Arkham Horror)

4. Add one famous fantasy artist (Larry Elworth)

5. Add quality looking components

Stir regularly, while simmering for a year, making necessary tweaks and adjustments. When ready, serve at Origins 2010!

That's more or less what you can expect from Defenders of the Realm, a brand new game published by FRED Distribution, and just officially released this week after being well over a year in the making. The game revolves around the protection of Monarch City, which is being assaulted by four accursed races: orcs, dragons, demons, and undead. The King of Monarch City is in need of your help to defend the countryside, repair the tainted lands, and defeat these four races before one of them enters his city. In this cooperative fantasy game for 1-4 players, you and your friends each choose a role as one of the King's Champions (Cleric, Dwarf, Eagle Rider, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, or Wizard), and must work together to protect the city. To me, Defenders of the Realm looks like it has all the essential ingredients to be a real success! Only time will tell how big an appetite gamers will develop for this new dish, but since it's just appearing on the menu for the first time, in this review I will play the role of a local game connoisseur and share some pictorial first impressions about what the game looks like and how it works. I say: tasty!

COMPONENTS

Game box

The box is quite massive, and is similar in size to other large titles from Eagle Games, such as Age of Empires III and Conquest of the Empire. Don't miss the beautiful artwork by the legendary Larry Elmore on the front cover!

The back of the box introduces some of the components, such as the lovely cards and miniatures included in the game.

The publisher offers this overview of the theme and gameplay on the box-back:

'In the ancient Citadel of Monarch City, the King calls to arms the finest Heroes to defend against a Darkness that engulfs the land. You and your allies must embark on a journey to defend the countryside, repair the tainted lands, and defeat the four creature factions before any of them enter the City. And they approach from all sides! Fast populating Orcs! Fierce Dragons! Undead that bring Fear! And Demons! All tainting the land in their wake. There are several paths to defeat, but only one path to victory, and only the most valiant Hero will be named King's Champion.

Defenders of the Realm is a cooperative fantasy board game in which 1-4 players take a role as one of the King’s Champions (Choose from Cleric, Dwarf, Eagle Rider, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer and Wizard). You, as one of the King's Heroes make use of strategy, special abilities, cooperation, card play and a little luck in Defenders of the Realm for a unique experience every adventure. But be forewarned! There is never time to rest. As each Enemy General is struck down in battle, the remaining dark forces only grow more difficult to vanquish and their march to Monarch City gets faster with each Hero victory!'

Inside the box is a very sturdy box insert, which houses the components very well:

I love the design: the box insert even has holes to make grabbing the cards easier! Now that's impressive!

Component list

But let's haul all this goodness out of the box and see what is included! Here's what you get:

● Game Board

● 8 Hero Character Cards & Miniatures

● 4 General Character Cards & Miniatures

● 100 Minions (25 in Black, Blue, Red, and Green)

● War Status Board

● Card Decks (Darkness Spreads cards, Hero cards, Quest cards)

● 12 Tainted Crystals

● 12 Dice (3 of Black, Blue, Red, and Green)

● 5 Magic Gate Tokens

● 7 Status Tokens

● 42 Life Tokens

Shrink-wrapped and in the original bags, here's what it looks like when it's fresh out of the box:

The miniatures are particularly impressive and worth admiring:

Image courtesy of the publisher

My copy of the game included Defenders of the Realm: The Barbarian Expansion (an additional hero card and matching miniature), and the Black Dragon figure, an additional general from Defenders of the Realm: The Black Dragon Expansion. My understanding is that these will be included with the game for those who pre-ordered it or purchase it from Eagle Games at Origins, and will be standard inclusions in the second printing of the game later this year.

Rule book

You can download the rulebook here on BGG: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/filepage/54105

It is a 16 page booklet, which includes step-by-step guides to all the elements of the game, such as set-up, flow of play, icons and actions, combat skills for the four generals, and an explanation of individual cards, as well as some suggested variants to make the game easier or harder. The last page has a reference for all the possible actions a hero can do on his turn. The rules are adequate, but could have benefited from more illustrations and pictures, and it's not the easiest to learn how to play from the rulebook. But with the help of this pictorial review, you should be on your way in no time. Comparisons with Pandemic are inevitable, and the fact that some of the mechanics are similar certainly makes the game easier to learn.

The main idea of the game is quite straight-forward: players take on one of the eight hero roles (nine if you include the Barbarian expansion character), and must defeat the four evil generals that are advancing on Monarch City. You lose the game if one general enters the city or if five minions are in the city. You also lose the game if the entire army of one general is on the board, or if the countryside is excessively `tainted' by the forces of evil. There is increasing tension as the game progresses, much like in Pandemic. One difference with Defenders of the Realm is that while players win or lose as a group, the player with the most points from Quests and Character cards is given special honour by being declared the King's Champion.

Game board

The board is a high quality mounted map, and features wonderful artwork. The lettering and style is inspired by older style fantasy artwork, for a some what retro classic-fantasy look.

At the center of the board is the all-important Monarch City, which is the citadel that the players are trying to defend. Black lines indicate paths for moving between adjacent locations.

Some may find the colours slightly garish, but there's no doubting the high calibre of the signature artwork by Larry Elmore.

Hero Character cards & miniatures

Players can choose from one of eight possible Hero characters, each of which has unique abilities: Cleric, Dwarf, Eagle Rider, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, or Wizard (the Barbarian expansion adds a ninth). This helps make each game different and increases replayability, but also forces players to work together by relying on individual strengths in a way that will maximize the common good.

Here are their matching miniatures:

Image courtesy of the publisher

The special powers of each hero give abilities like teleporting, travelling by horse or eagle flight for free, casting fireballs, battle rage, ambush, bravery, passing through enemy units, and much more. For example, here is the Ranger, who gets attack bonuses and extra actions when in a Green location (Wood Lore and Elf Support), and can use his Archery ability to attack in adjacent spaces:

General Character cards & miniatures

There's a card and a miniature for each of the four enemy generals: Lord Balazarg (red - leader of the demons), Gorgutt the Savage (green - leader of the orcs), Sapphire (blue - leader of the dragonkin), and Varkolak (black - leader of the undead).

Here are their matching miniatures, which are unique and impressive (Sapphire the Dragon general is the largest at 85mm high and with a wing span of 98mm):

Here's a closer look at the card for Sapphire the Dragon, which has the unique ability of being able to regenerate after combat:

Each General Character card gives various essential information about the general and its unique abilities:

Minions

There are minions for each of the four races, representing Varkolak’s Undead (black), Sapphire’s Dragonkin (blue), Balazarg’s Demons (red), and Gorgutt’s Orcs (green). They are all generic (and look somewhat like hooded monks), differing only in colour.

25 in each colour makes 100 miniatures altogether! Here's the demon army with its general:

The orc army with its general:

The dragonkin army with its general:

The undead army with its general:

Images of miniatures courtesy of the publisher

War Status Board

As generals are defeated, the remaining generals attack more fiercely. This is implemented in the game by requiring that more Darkness Spreads cards (used to place minions and advance generals) have to be drawn at the end of every turn, making the game harder as more and more minions are added in the closing stages (similar to the Infection Rate in Pandemic). A token is used to keep track of the current War Status, and it is advanced every time a general is eliminated.

Card Decks

The game comes with three decks of cards:

Darkness Spreads cards

Most of the Darkness Spreads cards show two locations, with 1 or 2 minions that must be placed at each of these locations. The bottom part of such cards indicates that one of the generals must be moved one step closer towards Monarch City.

The basic effect of these cards is to add minions to the board, and sometimes cause the generals to continue their inexorable march upon the citadel that our heroes must protect! In addition to cards like the one pictured above, there are also some special Darkness Spreads cards that have other special effects, such as Orc Activity, All is Quiet, and the Monarch City card.

Hero cards

The Hero cards are multi-purpose, and often used together with an action - they are used for increased movement, to heal tainted lands, or to do battle with generals.

Movement

At the top of each card is a movement band which indicates what kind of movement you can get by using an action to discard that card, either:

1. Travel by Horse: move 2 spaces

2. Fly by Eagle: move 4 Spaces

3. Move by Magic Gate: move to the location on the card or any Gate.

Building gates & Healing tainted land

Cards with a location on the band can be used in one of three ways:

● Move by a Magic Gate: explained above under 'Movement'

● Build a Magic Gate: discard the card when on the matching location to build a Magic Gate

● Heal the location: discard a card of the same colour as the tainted land to remove a tainted crystal

For example, here are all the Hero cards that have green locations:

Battle with generals

The Hero cards come in all four colours because they are also needed to battle generals. Discard as many cards of a colour matching the general you are trying to fight, and that's how many dice (some cards give you two dice per card) you get to roll in your attempt to eliminate that general.

Special cards

A number of special Hero cards (purple in colour) have special effects, such as the ones pictured here:

Quest cards

Players each get a Quest card at the start of the game, and draw a new one each time they complete or fail a quest (or when a quest becomes impossible to fulfil). Completing a quest is usually an indication of making good progress against the forces of evil! Here are two examples:

Tainted Crystals

There are 12 of these, and these are used to designate land that has been tainted by the spread of evil. In a mechanic similar to outbreaks in Pandemic, if ever a fourth minion is added to a location, instead that location is considered 'overrun', and a tainted crystal is placed there, and minions spread to the adjacent region instead. If the 12th and last crystal is placed on the board, you lose the game! There are ways to remove tainted crystals from a location by discarding certain cards and rolling dice (and getting at least a 5).

Dice

There are three dice in each of the four race colours: Black, Blue, Red, and Green. These will be used for combat, and are rolled when attempting to eliminate minions and generals.

Tokens

Magic Gate tokens

There are 5 Magic Gate tokens which function much like Research centres in Pandemic - when built, players can use them to travel from one Magic Gate to another. Similar to Pandemic, they are built by discarding a card matching the location.

Life tokens

There are 42 Life tokens. Each character gets 4-6 life tokens (depending on the character), which can be lost by being wounded, and restored by healing. On your turn you can perform as actions equal to the number of life tokens you have.

Status tokens

There are 7 Status tokens. Four are used for the Wound track on each general's character card.

One is used for the War Status board, and the other two are used to indicate the attack style for the Eagle Rider character (Ground or Sky).

Overall, beautiful components. I particularly like the miniatures and the cards.

GAME-PLAY

Objective

The way to win Defenders of the Realm is by defeating all four generals. On the other hand you lose the game if one of the following four happens:

1. One of the generals enters Monarch City.

2. Five enemy minions are in Monarch City.

3. All the minions of one colour are on the board and a Darkness Spreads Card requires more to be added.

4. The last of the 12 Tainted Crystals is added to the board.

Image courtesy of Bob Solow

Set-up

Enemy set-up

The four enemy Generals are placed in the places marked for them on the board, along with 3 matching minions each (note: Balazarg also gets a tainted crystal in his space).

18 minions also need to be placed randomly by drawing Darkness Spread cards:

● draw three Darkness Spreads cards (ensure that they have two different locations on each) and place 2 minions on each location (i.e. a total of 12 minions)

● draw three more Darkness Spreads cards (these may be locations that already have minions, as long as it doesn't result in four minions on any location) and place 1 minion on each location (i.e. a total of 6 minions).

Then shuffle the Darkness Spreads cards used back into the deck - at this point there should be a total of 4 generals and 30 minions on the board, with the minions in random locations as determined by the cards. Here's an example:

Player set-up

Each player gets a Hero character card and matching miniature which is placed in Monarch City. They also get 2 Hero cards and 1 Quest card each, and life tokens equal to their character's maximum.

Place status tokens as follows: one on the highest number of the Wound Track on each general's character card, and one on the 'Early War' space of the War Status board. Your heroes are ready to begin their adventure!

Game Turn

Players do the following three steps in turns:

1. Daytime: perform actions

2. Evening: draw Hero cards

3. Night: draw Darkness Spreads cards

Basically each player first takes actions equal to the number of their life tokens (e.g. movement, special skills, gather rumors, heal land or yourself, fight minions or generals), then draws more Hero cards, after which new minions are added to the board as determined by drawing Darkness Spreads cards. Let's look at each of these three steps in more detail.

1. Daytime

This is the most important part of the game, where you complete your actions. For each of your active life tokens, you get one action (turn them face down as you use them, and refresh them face up at the start of your turn). Life tokens can be lost by suffering wounds or losing a battle with a general. You can do the same action multiple times in a turn (exception: Rumors at the Inn can only be done twice a turn). Possible actions are as follows:

● movement; ● build magic gate; ● special skill; ● listen for rumors; ● healing; ● combat

Movement

● Move by Foot: move 1 space to adjacent location.

● Move by Horse: discard a Hero card with a horse icon to move 2 locations away

● Move by Foot: discard a Hero card with an eagle icon to move 4 locations away

● Move by Magic Gate: discard a Hero card with a magic gate icon to move to the location on the card or to any magic gate on the board; or if you are at a magic gate, move to any other magic gate without discarding a card.

Special Skill

● Special skill: some heroes have unique abilities that require an action (as noted on their Hero Character card).

Build Magic Gate

● Build magic gate: discard a Hero card to build a magic gate at that location (you must be at the location on the card) by placing a magic gate token there. This is similar to building a Research station in Pandemic.

Listen for Rumors

● Listen for rumors: If you're located at an Inn, you may listen for rumors - select a card colour, then draw two cards and keep any cards that match the called color (as well as any special Purple cards). This can be done a maximum of twice each turn. Pictured here is the Gryphon Inn, linked by road to Gryphon Forest.

Healing

● Heal the land: When on a tainted location, discard a Hero card matching that location color and roll 2 dice, and remove a tainted crystal if at least one 5 or more is rolled.

● Heal your wounds: All life tokens are restored if in Monarch City or at Inns, 2 life tokens are restored if at a location without enemy minions or generals (up to a maximum equal to their starting number, and only usable the next turn).

Combat

● Fight Minions: Role a coloured die matching each minion in your current location. You need a 3 or more to defeat an orc minion, 4 or more to defeat a demon minion or undead minion, 5 or more to defeat a dragonkin minion. If you end a turn in a location where enemy minions are still present, you suffer a wound for each minion there (the presence of undead minions causes one additional wound as a result of Fear) - take this number of life tokens and put them face down beside your Hero character card. (Note that you can use the Healing Wounds action to restore these, but if you are reduced to zero active life tokens, that character dies and is replaced by a new hero that begins in Monarch City). Pictured below, one of our heroes has eliminated one of the two dragonkin minions by rolling a 6.

● Fight a General: To attack a general, all enemy minions in that location need to have been eliminated. You play any number of Hero cards with that generals picture, rolling one or two dice for each card - the general's wound marker is advanced 1 space for each hit (the general's character card indicates the die result needed for a hit). This is a similar to the 'Cure Disease' mechanic in Pandemic, although it adds dice rolling so it is less predictable. Note that other heroes at that location can also join in the combat against the general and assist by attacking as a group. Be warned that each of the generals has special combat skills!

Balazarg: Corruption - before battle, roll a die for each red card played for the battle, and lose a card for each 1 rolled.

Gorgutt: Frenzy - each 1 rolled in battle negates and blocks a successful attack roll by another die.

Sapphire: Regeneration - she returns to full health after battle if not defeated.

Varkolak: Fear - no re-rolls are allowed in battle.

You'll need multiple hits to defeat the general, so don't initiate combat with a general unless you are fairly confident of victory. The best way is to attack it as a group - other players on their turn can move to the General's location but not initiate combat with him. When the active player does initiate combat by using an action to attack, the other heroes can also play attack cards and participate in the attack.

If you win? If the general is defeated, the hero receives the general's character card and turns it over (giving the hero a new special ability), and gains 3 Hero cards, while the War Status token is advanced to the next box.

If you lose? The hero suffers the penalties listed on the general's character card, and is moved to Monarch City. From now on the general will heal at a rate of 1 point at the end of each player's turn, but if the wound marker is on a red space (major wound), the healing only begins after the completion of full round of turns by all players.

If multiple players are part of the attack on a general, they all gain 3 Hero cards (if they win) or suffer the penalty noted on the general's character card (if they lose).

Here's the reverse side of the card for the general Sapphire, which the winning hero acquires in the event of defeating this general, to gain the new title 'Dragon Slayer'.

2. Evening

Draws 2 Hero cards and adds them to your hand (hand limit is 10 cards, discard if necessary).

3. Night

Draw Darkness Spreads cards (1, 2 or 3, as determined by the current War Status), and place minions and advance a general as indicated by the card:

1. Place Minions: Most Darkness Spreads cards show 1 or 2 minions in two locations - these have to be added to the board. If this means that any location would get a fourth minion, instead a Tainted Crystal is placed on that location, and minions are placed on the surrounding locations instead. This mechanic is more or less the same as the 'Outbreak' mechanic in Pandemic, but here it is called an 'Overrun' that leads to the land being 'Tainted'. Unlike Pandemic, if a neighbouring location is overrun, it does result in the placement of a Tainted Crystal in that adjacent location, but doesn't cause an additional overrun. Note that Generals don't count towards calculating an overrun, and that a location can get more than one Tainted Crystal.

2. Advance a General: If the general pictured on the bottom half of the card is one space away from the location shown, that general advances to the location on the card (towards Monarch City only, never away) and gets new minions at that location (which may also cause an overrun and tainted land).

Special Darkness Spreads cards: There are several Darkness Spreads cards that function differently when drawn, by having the following special effects:

● Orc Patrols and Orc War Party: These cause extra orcs to be added to the board.

● Monarch City: One minion of each color that is adjacent to Monarch City has to be added to the city (remember that 5 minions in the citadel signify a loss!), and all decks are reshuffled (used purple Hero cards excepted).

● All is Quiet: No new enemies appear and no generals move.

War Status: Each time a general is defeated during the game, the War Status token is advanced, which affects how many Darkness Spreads cards are drawn:

Early War (0 generals eliminated): requires only 1 Darkness Spreads card to be drawn during the Night phase

Mid War (1-2 generals eliminated): requires 2 Darkness Spreads cards to be drawn during Night - the second card does not place minions but only advances a general

Late War (3 generals eliminated): requires 3 Darkness Spreads cards to be drawn during Night - the third card does not place minions but only advances a general

This means that the game becomes increasingly difficult in the closing stages!

What do I think?

Components: The components are high quality, and the inclusion of so many miniatures is a big plus for this game, adding to visual appeal. No little wooden cubes in Defenders of the Realm - and let's face it, when you're playing a fantasy adventure game it's far more fun to move around miniature dragons and orcs than wooden bits! It's a bit of a pity that the different kinds of minions are differentiated only by colour, but overall I'm very happy with the miniatures. My guess is that it will only be a matter of time before we start seeing pictures appearing on BGG of custom painted hero minis. Larry Elmore's artwork on the cards and the board is lovely. I'm personally not that enthused about the garishness of some of the colours on the board, and the retro look, but this is largely a matter of taste, and there will be many who will be immensely pleased with it. Overall the components are good.

Game-play: I can't comment too much about the gameplay at this point. Usually I only write a review after playing a game multiple times, while on this occasion I decided to share some first impressions, because I know that many gamers are itching to find out what this game is like and how it plays - an overview without the benefit of extensive gameplay could help the curious see what's inside the box and get an idea of what the gameplay is like, plus ease the learning curve for anyone planning to play the game. That disclaimer aside, my initial impressions of the gameplay are positive. The cooperative system of Pandemic is one I enjoy a great deal, and converting this for a fantasy game is an excellent concept. To some extent, the engine itself has already been tried and proven in Pandemic, and Defenders of the Realm just takes this in a new direction. Tension increases as the game progresses, and the dice based combat makes for exciting gameplay that suits the fantasy adventure genre perfectly. I particularly like the fact that there are nine different here characters that players can choose from - this helps give the game flexibility and enhances replayability, making each game a new challenge, depending on the roles chosen and the random placement of minions. The addition of a black dragon general in a forthcoming expansion will only increase this further. The dice-based combat and minion placement based on card draw certainly result in random elements, but these lend themselves perfectly to the fantasy genre. It needs to be seen whether the gameplay stands up against repeated play, but I do think there's good reason to be optimistic, given that the core engine is not something entirely new.

Cooperative game: In many respects Defenders of the Realm shows evidence of an underlying game system that we've already seen in Pandemic. If you can't stand Pandemic, this game is probably not for you, no matter how much you enjoy fantasy adventure games. To some extent it's still somewhat of a puzzle that requires players to work together to solve. But unlike Pandemic, the random elements of dice-based combat result in a different feel. You cannot calculate everything in advance, and the unpredictable can happen. There are also individual quests that give the possibility of achieving personal glory. In that respect Defenders of the Realm includes an aspect of story-telling and adventure that Pandemic can't provide, and despite some similarities, the two games don't really overlap.

Fantasy adventure: Over the years I've played several other fantasy adventure games, including Runebound and Prophecy. Neither was entirely satisfactory for me, in part because I wanted to see more interaction without the games becoming too confrontational - making the fantasy adventure game into a cooperative endeavour solves that neatly, because it requires a high level of interaction without being nasty. The game length of Defenders of the Realm also seems to be more ideal for the kind of game I look for when playing with family or friends. Is it the ideal fantasy adventure game? It probably wouldn't be fair to judge it as such, because it lacks certain elements, such as the ability to build up your character, and acquire items. It's also simpler than something Arkham Horror, and doesn't have the same kinds of events and depth of story-line as that modern classic. It wouldn't be fair to make this a criticism of Defenders of the Realm - it means rather that it occupies its own niche on the fantasy adventure game shelf. I look forward to see more reviews and read more comments as the game gets more play by other gamers, and gets put through its paces!

What do others think?

Even though the game is only just released officially, it has been playtested for some time, already having appeared in prototype form at Origins in 2009. Here are some of the responses to the game at this early stage, and many of these folks have played the prototype multiple times:

'This is going to be one of the most popular cooperative games ever. I'm still amazed at how different all the characters feel.' - Tom Vasel (TomVasel)

'My favorite coop and one of my favorite games in general. It is very engaging with a high degree of replayability.' - Mark Zoghby (Atl_gamester)

'If you don’t like coop games and you don’t like fantasy games then avoid this like the plague. If you like both then this is a must buy for you ... this game pulls off the coop mechanic and the fantasy theme very well. This game gave me the feeling of an epic fantasy battle, more so than when I played War of the Ring' - Daniel Brown (StyxParadox)

'Pretty Pandemic-y, but with fantasy additions and twists. Dice combat, some more varied powers for the characters, and a big bad in each color make it a different game, though.' - Lucas Hedgren (boomtron)

'Very fun co-op. Lots of options, and not enough time.' - Sean Brown (onekccs)

'The game has quick turns, lots of fighting, choices between personal and group gains, and special powers.' - Stephen Avery (StephenAvery)

'Even though it uses mechanics very similar to those in Pandemic, it is significantly deeper and more difficult than Pandemic.' - David Knepper (Aging One)

'Played 3-4 times. I look for this to be one of the BEST received games this year. Fantastic!!' - Edward Maxwell (enditen)

Recommendation

Is Defenders of the Realm for you? If you like fantasy adventure games and cooperative games, you'll be hard-pressed to dislike this one. Not everyone is going to be the target audience, particularly those who can't stand those genres. But the rest of us can expect to enjoy it a lot. Get your game, and prepare to defend the realm!

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Review: Horus Heresy:: First game, first thoughts

2010-06-25T11:48:00.002-07:00

Review: Horus Heresy:: First game, first thoughts: "

by pullsyjr

My friend Troy bought Horus Heresy the other day and I was the lucky one who got to give it the christening with him.

Contents

I love FFG games. I love punching out cardboard tokens and getting the little satisfying 'pop' as the things fall from their place. HH, from my experience, has far less tokens than other FFG products (I’m looking at you Arkham Horror!) with only two cards to punch stuff out of.

There are a large number of miniscule (epic scale for those old school 40k players) plastic miniatures; four coloured teams representing the Chaos forces (one colour for each of the Chaos gods found in the Warhammer universe) and one team for the Imperium.

I wasn't a huge fan of the minis in this box set. Two unit types are almost exactly the same (it seems that the only difference is that one has spiky shoulder pads which pretty much become invisible at such a small scale). The grey plastic they use on the Imperium models is rather boring too.

The final point about the miniatures is the fact that they have to be inserted into specific bases. This was rather tedious to say the least. I suppose in hindsight I prefer them that way (ignoring the mechanics of the game) as moulding figures with an integral base usually ends up with items that I personally find sub-standard.

Special characters were of the card variety such as those used in AH. It was odd to have such a different type of 'model', but it did make it a lot easier to identify.

There are eight separate decks of cards to sort through; five standard size and three 'half' size (another AH reference).

The board is a tri-folding one that has areas to remove so plastic inserts can be slotted into place before the game. I found these inserts to be quite frustrating to place but that may have been because the table we were using allowed for things to slide around every time you moved stuff. I understand that the first run of HH came out with a warped board, but the one we used seemed fine.

All up, the game is presented very nicely with few things that I thought could do with improvement. In typical FFG style there are lots of bits and makes for marvellous eye-candy.

Rules

Holy moley there’s a huge book to get through. It took over an hour to go through all the rules, and in the end we gave up and just jumped into the game referring to the tome as we required. It turned out that the rules are written in a very precise manner to expunge any rules-lawyering that may go on. Whilst it made the read a lot longer with a fair amount of duplications (and wouldn't really affect us much anyway) I imagine it would stop a few arguments between more serious players.

Whilst the rules presented a theoretically complicated game, once we got into play everything clicked into place for us with little or no difficulty. We did need to refer to the book on a number of occasions but the layout of the rules is fairly good so it was easy to find what we were looking at.

In saying that, there was no clear reason why the game is divided into “Acts”. Troy was puzzled a lot by this and when we found the blurb about it, there wasn’t really an explanation. I believe it was just to allow easy division of the Event cards but perhaps I was missing something that would become apparent in different missions.

Mechanics

HH is a diceless system based entirely around sequences of cards. To do something in the game, it needs to be done with a card that says you can. Personally I found this to be a great mechanic and presented some amazing strategic challenges. There were times during the game when both of us were literally playing edge-of-seat moves.

Given that HH is such an apparently slow moving game this was an unexpected yet welcome feeling.

1. Turn based moves

Turns are not necessarily taken on an alternate basis. Instead, whoever is further down the Initiative Track has to wait until overtaken by the opponent. This means that performing an Order that allows for a sudden reinforcement (for example) may result in the other player having up to three turns before you get to do anything more. I personally haven’t seen anything like it in a board game so was intrigued by the concept.

Does it work? Hell yes. I kid you not, but EVERY decision is crucial. Playing Order cards immediately means you get the benefit straight away but either can’t do anything for a large number of turns, or have a less effective move. Playing them Strategically however allows you to reign in your Initiative counter or gain more benefits, but means you have to wait to actually initiate the action.

It truly is a nail biting game when your opponent gets free reign for two turns. All you can do is watch events unfold.

2. Activations

When performing an Order, it will typically Activate the area played on. An area can only be Activated once, at which point all units that were subject to the event cannot do anything until deactivated. Usually deactivation occurs when a certain number of turns are made (identified by the Initiative Track) or by some cards’ special effects.

I was impressed with this idea. The first combat that I was subjected to (I was defending) was one that I managed to hold. Given the fact that the opposing units were then forced to wait for deactivation my initial worry about relentless and overwhelming strikes was allayed.

It also complicates the Orders that may be used. As well as figuring out whether to make the action immediate or Strategic, the player must also decide what area is best to Activate.

Whilst initially I was doubtful at this mechanic I found that it added a large degree of strategy to the game.

3. Combat

Combat is undertaken again with cards. For the total unit strength of an army, they receive a number of cards which gives them a mixture of attack damage, defensive bonuses and special abilities. In addition if one or more Heroes partakes of the fight they get one or two Character cards which has the same detail as the standard combat card, but with extra bonuses specific to the hero.

The fight is divided into both Attacker and Defender, which is then separated into Passive and Active. The prior is less important than the latter. The Active is the one who can deal damage and activate valid special abilities. The Passive can block the damage but deal none in return. Then the Active/Passive forces change over for the next round. Each combat is fought over a certain number of turns with the Defender retaining their position if there is no definite resolution.

I felt that the limited options with the cards made combat a tactically complex event. Whether to use the limited resources for dealing or soaking damage become a primary concern. The special abilities could also change the outcome of the battle if used properly, so it may be better to absorb a lot of damage and to get the funky part out, than to play it safe and not kick the enemy in the teeth from left field.

4. Events

Another feature of HH are the Events that occur at certain times. These provide bonuses for one side of the game on each draw and move the “story” along. From what I saw, these cards didn’t cause unreasonable or overwhelming benefits but more allowed for subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) shifting of the strategic layout of the game.

Playing the game

We played the introduction scenario; a 'historical' recreation of the Heresy siege. I was on Team Evil whilst Troy was Team Good. At first setup I was thinking that a loss was inevitable. The forces out on the table were about 4:1 in favour of my opponent. Luckily, and I feel this is a massive credit to the whole system, things were pretty evenly matched.

It is true though that there were large swathes of the board that either did nothing all game, or very little. However I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing. It allows for the threat of activity to be held against each player.

In the end I won the game. I managed to hold all four Space Ports in a final 'do or die' rush costing 3 Initiative steps to play which put me just past the point where I could claim that as a victory condition. It was a very close call and I felt threatened by Troy the entire time. I’m sure that this feeling was reciprocated.

Thoughts

I loved this game. The mechanics, whilst seemingly clunky, all worked together. The combination of the limitations imposed by the cards created truly anxious moments and very tough decision points. I don’t think HH would have been as good if any one of the mechanics was removed; rather I felt that it worked because it was a puzzle made up of a lot of constituent pieces.

The game forced a focused attention to certain areas, and also required us to think both offensively and defensively. Attempting to overwhelm an opponent with a mass of units was no guarantee of success given the Attacker/Defender system in conjunction with the Active/Passive roles. The limited combat cards did seem 'clunky' to begin with, and did have the potential to limit the effectiveness of the force, but we quickly learned how to maximise opportunities whilst minimising damage.

In no way did HH present a realistic view of large scale battles. This is particularly true in a futuristic setting, regardless of how archaic this future may look. I think HH would work precisely the same in any background, just changing the scale and the technology presented. The fact that there isn’t “realism” when it comes to the setting may annoy people looking for a more fluid representation of fast deployments via air or whatever, but it didn't bother me in the least.

HH definitely isn't suited for everyone. It DOES struggle with an apparent lack of progress, particularly when both players only place Strategy cards without activating them. If you're after something with troops moving dynamically across the board then try a different game. In fact I found that very few of my units moved at all...

All in all, I thought HH was awesome. The strategy involved was great and the limitations are what made the game so good. I can't wait to give it another bash!

So people don’t call me a Games Workshop or FFG lackey, here’s a brief background of Troy and myself:

Troy has some bias against FFG games. He loathes Arkham Horror for the huge amount of rules. All the bits drive him nuts. Rune Wars is another one that he can't stand for the same reason. So despite coming into this game expecting very little it was great to see that he really did enjoy HH.

I personally DESPISE Games Workshop with a passion. I know only the basic knowledge of the Horus campaign (ie, Horus and the Emperor fought each other) so I am sure I missed some nuances of the 40k universe. I don't care; as I stated above the game could have been set in any environment with equal result."

Cloudberry Games Starts to Sprout

2010-06-25T11:48:00.001-07:00

Cloudberry Games Starts to Sprout: "

In March 2009, I published a column highlighting two companies that were formed to help game designers bring their creations to a larger audience, whether for exposure or for the larger goal of publication.

One of those companies, Cloudberry Games, which was founded in 2008, has now emerged from its incubation and beta-test period to start inviting game development projects on a wider basis. Here’s a summary of how Cloudberry Games works from that previous column:

Cloudberry Games has developed a system that will help designers publicize and develop their games while simultaneously finding an audience. Says [co-founder Rustan] Håkansson, “An author creates a developer account on the webpage, which costs €10 per year, and starts a new project. He or she enters all the information there is about the game, including the rules. We check that it is at least a reasonable start of a game, and accept it as a project. With this, Cloudberry Games licenses the game from the author.” The game can be a new design or a previously published game that has since gone out of print.

The Cloudberry staff, gamers, publishers, artists and other designers can access this project – reading the rules, downloading files to print and play, making suggestions, tagging it – and the original designer can then make changes or improvements as desired based on the feedback he’s received. Artists can also participate in game projects, either voluntarily with the hope of future royalties or on a commission basis by Cloudberry.

Once the designer feels the game is finished and Cloudberry Games decides that interest in the game might merit a printing, the company will take quotes from printers, establish a quantity and price, then open an order window for thirty days. “We will either print the game or take it back and await further improvement or more interest later,” says Håkansson.

In fact, the developer membership is only €5 annually, something intended (I believe) to keep out the tire-kickers while still being accessible to a wide audience. Twenty games in various stages of completion are currently listed in the Cloudberry Games database, and developers can peruse them, download rules, offer suggestions, and so on. It will be interesting to see what rains down upon gamers from the clouds…

(Disclosure: I’m working with Rustan Håkansson on a new version of Boardgame News.)

Review: Risk 2210 A.D.:: Risk 2210: Fixes Some Problems, Adds Some New Ones

2010-06-25T11:48:00.000-07:00

Review: Risk 2210 A.D.:: Risk 2210: Fixes Some Problems, Adds Some New Ones: "

by brokenimage321

Risk has a bad rap. People complain about all the flaws in the game--the 12 hour playing time, Australia, the randomness, etc. etc.

Risk 2210 fixes many of these problems rather elegantly, but also introduces some new ones. This review is a quick summary of improvements on the original Risk and problems that remain to be fixed, as well as my thoughts on each one.

(Note: this is not intended to be an exhaustive review; I only touch on gameplay elements that are relative to the points I'm discussing. I recommend looking up another review, or, better yet, the rulebook, if you want to learn more about how the game is played.)

Risk 2210 Fixes:

-The Static Board. Although not as bad of a problem as, say Axis and Allies, the typical Risk game is rather predictable: Whoever has Australia will defend it vigorously and never lose it, the guy who has Asia will never ever hold on to it, etc.

In Risk 2210, 4 territories are chosen at random. These territories receive a Nuke token, meaning that they've been destroyed or contaminated or something; nothing can enter or move through these territories.

Believe it or not, this small change has a HUGE impact on the game. The layout of the map is rather dramatically changed, shaking up the game. For example, I've had several games where Australia is inaccessible, one where North America lost half its territories (but kept its full continent bonus), making it easier to hold, and another where the Middle East became a choke point between three continents.

This is my second-favorite change; the board feels different every single game. It really ups the replayability value.

-Australia. Australia's cool, if you own it. Otherwise, it's a thorn in your side, and completely unassailable.

Risk 2210 adds two additional routes into Australia, both composed of several Water Colonies (read: additional spaces). These extra entry points force the Australia player to spread out his forces, but the Water Colonies act as a buffer, making sure that conquering Australia will never be a cakewalk.

I think this is a really elegant solution to the tendency to 'Turtle' in Australia. In most other Risk variants (e.g. The Clone Wars), the 'Australia' continent simply has a second entrance. This nullifies most of the defensive properties of the continent, making it much less appealing. The way it's implemented in 2210, Australia is still quite defensible, but not impossible to take.

-Counting. 'OK Red, your turn.' 'How many reinforcements do I get? One, two, three, four....Oop, forgot the Middle East. One, two, three...'

Risk 2210 adds a Scoreboard, which players use to keep track of how many territories they own, along with the amount of reinforcements they get. During play, it can be adjusted quite easily, and, if you lose track, players can count (when it's not their turn) to double-check.

This is my single favorite addition to 2210. In fact, I find it difficult to play without the Scoreboard now. Although it's not hard to count, it slows the game down considerably. This is another small change that has a huge impact on the game.

-The Randomness. Risk is, at heart, a dice-based wargame. With heavy emphasis on 'dice.' It's not uncommon for two defending armies to hold out against seventeen, or for an offensive force to breeze past an evenly-matched defending force like they weren't even there. Once or twice, it's amusing. After twelve times in a row, it gets old.

Risk 2210 adds elements that allow a player to influence his luck. Generals can be purchased which allow the player to roll 8-sided dice (instead of the regular 6-sided), which gives him a higher chance of winning. Players can also buy 'Space Stations' defensive, land-based (go figure) fortresses, which allow players to roll 8-sided dice while defending, as well as providing extra troops.

I like this change. It's nice and adds a little flavor (the generals have different abilities), but it isn't as drastic as other changes.

-The 12 hour game time. Risk ends when there's one player left standing. This is fine and all, when you play against a computer, but with humans? Risk has a tendency to stretch on for a long, long time, often unreasonably so.

Risk 2210 introduces a new mechanic, where the game ends after turn 5. Players then score points equal to the amount of reinforcements they'd get on their next turn, and certain cards (worth extra points) are added to the total. Whoever has the most points wins.

This drops Risk from a 12-hour game to a 2- or 3- hour game. It's still not ideal, but it's much better. However, this introduces a problem, which I'll discuss shortly.

So, Risk 2210 does a lot of cool things. But what problems does it have?

Risk 2210 Breaks:

-The Last Turn. Risk 2210, along with the time limit, introduces the concept of a 'last turn.' Thus, whoever goes last on the last turn has no need to play defensively. They can spread themselves as thin as they want, and it'll be OK, because no one's gonna hurt them. Meanwhile, all the other players are furious as they see their continent bonuses (and, therefore, points) evaporate in a puff of dice rolls.

This, in my opinion, is 2210's greatest weakness. The last turn is simply broken. I think a quick variant would be enough to fix it, but I have yet to hear one that I like; I have a suggestion of my own, which I'll tell you about in a little bit.

-Bidding For Turns. Risk 2210 introduced the concept of a cash-based economy to the Risk franchise. It's drastically simplified, though; you get 'Credits' equal to the amount of troops you recieve each turn. These Credits are used to buy Generals, Power Cards, and Space Stations, as well as bidding for turns.

By turns 4 or 5, there is generally someone that has more credits than he can spend. Thus he can outbid anyone for turn order, selecting the all-powerful Fifth Spot on the Last Turn.

An idea I have to fix both this problem and the last one is rather simple: on the last turn, players select Turn Order in reverse order of scoring; thus, whoever has the fewest territories picks first. He can decide if he wants the Fifth Spot, or if he's afraid he'll get destroyed by his rivals before he's able to go. Conversely, the most powerful player will get stuck with the third, second, or (gasp!) first spot, whichever is considered least desirable by the other players.

I must say, though, besides its broken-ness, I don't like bidding for turn order. It just doesn't seem to add all that much to the game, and can often get a player frustrated if he's consistently going third (generally the least desirable).

-The Moon. 'Didn't you hear? The Moon is the new Australia.'

The Moon is a spiffy addition, but, because it starts empty, is generally one of the first to be taken. After someone owns it, they generally start dumping troops on the three landing zones, effectively making the Moon impenetrable. If anyone tries to land on the Moon, the Moon's owner plays all kinds of defensive cards he's been building up, destroying the attacking army and urinating on their robotic corpses. The Moon's owner then chills on the Moon for the entire game, not interacting with anyone else unless it's a missile salvo or some half-hearted land defense (after all, he has the Moon. What concern are land-based territories to him?). And, if he decides he is sick of kickin' it up in the sky, he can play a card to come back down, dumping all the troops he's been saving on top of some poor sap who didn't bother to look up.

I don't think I've seen the Moon actually be contested for more than a turn or two, in all my games. Again, it's spiffy, but it just introduces a bunch of new problems.

Final Judgment:

I really enjoy Risk 2210. Overall, I think the changes were positive, and it adds a whole new layer of strategy to what was essentially a dice-rolling game. Just about everyone I've played it with enjoyed it too; the one exception was a guy that ended up winning anyways.

And, the best part? If you don't like the changes, you can play regular Risk, too. The board is the standard Earth board, and the territory cards (used for randomly selecting territories) can be used for reinforcements as well. The Scoreboard can even be used to keep track of how many reinforcements a set of cards will give you!

The pieces have even come in handy for other games. You get a set of five pawns in five colors (the Generals), which you can use for your print-and-play games, or old-school Dr. Lucky. You get a set of about 500 tokens (the armies) in three denominations and 5 colors, which you can use for pretty much anything. In this regard, the armies are more structurally sound than, say, Clone Wars armies, and smaller than Risk(2003) armies, and are in a generic-enough shape to be used for just about anything. The Credits (round cardboard chips in two denominations) can be used for scoring. And, you get dice. Who doesn't need more dice?

All in all? Highly recommended, especially if you already like Risk. I've gotten my money's worth many times over.

"

Review: Werewolf:: The PLAYMOBIL® Legion reviews "Werewolf"

2010-06-21T13:09:00.002-07:00

Review: Werewolf:: The PLAYMOBIL® Legion reviews "Werewolf": "

by EmeraldYam

NOTE: This review consists primarily of images, and thus make take some time to load on slower connections. My apologies.

Editor's Note: For an overview of the 5-player variant favoured by Centurion Maximus and his men, see How to play werewolf with less than 7 players. Many thanks to the core members of my BGG werewolf posse, Jeremiah_Lee, Raid1280 and fograsher.

For more PLAYMOBIL® Legion Reviews, check out The PLAYMOBIL® Legion Geeklist.

paperfred's PLAYMOBIL® Legion microbadge: [microbadge=11405]

Legal Disclaimer: PLAYMOBIL® is the property of Geobra Brandstätter GmbH & Co. KG. Despite what the images in this review might suggest, absolutely no PLAYMOBIL® figures are included in Werewolf. Apart from spending large amounts of money on their beautiful toys, I have no affiliation with PLAYMOBIL®.

Edited: Lots of typos. That's what I get for editing while sleepy."

Review: Tikal:: Tikal - A Board Game Odyssey review

2010-06-21T13:09:00.001-07:00

Review: Tikal:: Tikal - A Board Game Odyssey review: "

by crazylegs

I've been tracking my game purchases in this geeklist, but as the posts seem to be more like 'impression reviews', it makes sense to post them as such, too.

Background: Tikal was bought in a bundle of games which I took on a weekend away to France with my girlfriend to try out. I’d been looking forward to playing this game for a while; when I joined BGG I found this list, which seemed like as good a place as any to search for games I might like, and Tikal immediately appealed to me. The theme is great, nice artwork and I love tile-laying games as they make for exciting, often surprising plays which are never quite the same.

Reading some reviews I suppose I was a little wary of its reputation for lengthy decisions, but I figured I’d just have to hurry people along if that happened I also made sure I read the nice little rulebook thoroughly before the first play - especially after my girlfriend’s less than enthusiastic reaction to our first play of Stone Age; another game that’s a bit longer than our usual ones with quite a few decisions to make (it’s since grown on us both).

First impressions: I tend to notice the box first, obviously, and this one just seemed oddly large considering the contents. As the board folds up quite nicely I’m not sure what the need is for such a long box, but hey. Tiles etc. were of high quality and the artwork was engaging and colourful. I like.

First play: Despite reading and re-reading the rules beforehand, we still had to refer back to them quite a few times in our first run-though. Nevertheless play proceeded smoothly and everything seemed logical enough (not really intuitive, but fairly straightforward in any case). It’s certainly a slower game than others I own, but that hasn’t put me off and once you get used to it decisions become quicker, if not necessarily obvious - but that’s part of the fun! A bit of good fortune with the treasure tiles gave me an early lead and I ran out the winner, although not as comfortably as it seemed I would early on.

Ongoing play: My girlfriend thought Tikal was only ‘OK’ (she’s not so keen on the ‘Action Point’ system apparently. Now she tells me!), but I managed to get her to play a few more times over the weekend and, as I suspected, it grew on her. It’s still not her favourite and I concede it is a bit slower than we normally like our games to be while the 10 points thing can get annoying at times - we end up counting out loud and I must admit I prefer systems like this to give you a number of set options rather than adding up your points, but at least it’s different.

I’ve also noticed that, at least with two, the player who goes second tends to win and this seems to be due to the slightly strange ending, where the player who puts the last tile gets, in effect, 20 points to move their men into the best scoring positions. I’m sure this is to balance the advantage of going first but it does seem a little strange as from now on we will have to flip a coin to see who goes second!

In sum: I really like Tikal, despite what I see as its shortcomings. Hey - no game (well apart from Scrabble...) is perfect! The theme works for me and I find the excitement builds as the game goes on, as well as the number of options which can slow things down even further, but again this needn’t be too much of a problem if you don’t agonise too much about it. It’s only a game, after all! However, it’s not for everyone and it seems to be a game you have to be in the mood for specifically (rather than just in the mood for a game, or even for a long game). I guess this will result in limited play time, but I can live with that; it just means the times I do play will be extra special

Most quoted: 'Five...six-seven-eight...nin..no wait...nii...er...nine-ten!'

Seldom seen: Glut of expedition members.

Postscript: I rate this 7/10. Actually, that may increase to 7.5. I've found a fan of the game in my brother so it's nice to get it out when he comes to visit. It's on the long side, but when I have the time to play I always enjoy it."

Review: Monopoly Deal Card Game:: What I Think about Monopoly Deal

2010-06-21T13:09:00.000-07:00

Review: Monopoly Deal Card Game:: What I Think about Monopoly Deal: "

by kang_a_roo

Yes. It's Monopoly I'm talking about here. As you can see, I grow up with Monopoly, I had 6 different set of Monopoly games and one of this card game with me currently, but I will never play them again, except in some strange or force situation.

I talk about this card game is because of its really different than the usual Monopoly gameplay and its gameplay is really cut-throat in some way. Not just because it's just a card game, its gameplay is totally different than the old Monopoly too. No auctions, no roll and move, no going to jail and of 'cos not a single bad roll that ruin everything. It's a Set Collection + Hand Drafting game, but in a family friendly and lighter flavor.

It borrow the theme from Monopoly and no dice involve, that's a good news. The game is simple enough for anyone to pick up within 5 minutes, yet strategic to play with (for the first 2 rounds), but you will leave it on the shelf soon enough. It's not deep enough for hard-core gamers to dig in, simple tactics and heavy luck on the card draw will bored you soon enough.

House rules might change the atmosphere of the gameplay, especially if you leave out the chaotic and over-power spoiler cards (Deal Breaker) out of the game.Play this with your kids or any non-gamers will slowly lure them into this gaming hobby. It's a great gateway card game for them.

The best thing in Monopoly Deal is the playing time, short! 10-20 minutes, what a great filler game while waiting for others to come for the real gaming session. You can even play this during your lunch hour or on the small table at the cafe. It came within a small card board box, easy to carry around. The box contain one sheet of good explanation rules and 100+ standard quality cards.

There is tons of other card games similar to this and even better than this, so why bother picking this up? It's cheap! You don't even need to sleeves it 'cos it's so cheap. If the cards are ever wear off, just trash it and buy a new one.

Pros:

- Short and ideal play time

- Easy to pick up rules

- Easy to carry around

- A game that is for everyone

- Not the usual Monopoly game anymore except the title

- High player interaction

- Cut-throat

Cons:

- Still with a lot of luck factor

- Not strategic enough

- A game that is not for everyone

- Cheap box storage

- Monopoly is the name of the game

- Some over-power cards can ruin the game

- Gets boring after a few plays

My BGG rating: 5/10

What my friends think about it:

Phang: Still a lot of luck. Boring after a few plays.

ET: Me and my sister play this alot at home when we got nothing else better to do.

EM: I always beat my sister, so I love this game.

Beh: So cheap! I'll buy one.

Adam: Start off very nice, ends up on the shelf with dust.

Arthur: I carry it around everyday. Wanna play it now?

Jeremy: Too simple. I want challenge!

Kachat: It's Monopoly! I'm a Monopoly collector you know."

Review: Washington's War:: I finally got my game! My turn to write a review... well, more like a first impression.

2010-06-21T13:08:00.001-07:00

Review: Washington's War:: I finally got my game! My turn to write a review... well, more like a first impression.: "

by RayGuns

Not another review...

As mentioned in the heading, I finally got my copy of Washington’s War (WW) published by GMT games. There are some good reviews, but I feel compelled to write one myself, though I will try to get it simple. My review will be a bit different than the other reviews you might have read. I am only going to focus on my first impressions upon opening the box for the first time. After all, first impressions can often set the pace for the flow of things that follow. Also, I just got the game yesterday and have not played it at least three or four times, which is the minimum for me before I decided if I like or dislike a game.

The Box:

Yes, why not let us start with the box. The cover picture on the box is fitting to the game and at first glance you get an idea what the game might be about. While the picture is only a section of the actual painting, it works well for the game cover. The sides of the box (top, bottom, sides) are also fitting and have a nice layout that is eye-catching and not overdone. The back of the box is well illustrated and includes an image of the game board as well as sample game bits. There is other game information on the back including complexity rating, playing time, contents, game scale, etc. Overall, the game box has a good look and design about it. More importantly, upon un-wrapping the game and opening it for the first time, the first thing I noticed was the construction of box itself. It is sturdy and well constructed. My box took a heavy impact during shipping and it only dented the box. I'm sure a weaker game box would have split. So, the box construction actually preserved my game better as the game components were undamaged.

The Rules Book:

The first thing I pulled out was the game booklets. I only have good things to say about these. They are printed on nice paper that is slightly heavier than normal and they look very clean. Now some people might complain the booklets are not printed on glossy paper, which is more expensive, but glossy paper tends to give off a glare. These booklets do not do that. As a result, they will be easier on the eyes, though glossy paper or not, not a big deal for me at all. I can manage to read rules books just fine, though, I like the look and feel of the booklets that come with the game.

The Reference Sheets:

Next to come out of the box were the ref sheets. Again, I only have good things to say; they are nicely printed on heavy paper with a semi-gloss look to them.

Counters:

Next out of the box came the counter sheets. Not too thick and not too thin. Well laid out and accurately punched. In fact, the alignment of the die-cutting was so accurate that the European War and French Navy counters are cut exactly between the two colors that divide the two counters, and I mean exactly. Same with the Continental Congress and Game Turn counters. For the other counters, this precision is not necessary as the layout makes this not as critical. Oh, and the die-cutting is very clean. As for the graphics, well, some have said that the graphics used for We the People (WtP) should have been used. You know what? The graphics of the two games are very similar, also, I like the graphics of Washington’s Wars (WW) as it looks just a little be better. For me that is. As for the historical details for the flags and uniforms, well, since its 'general' rather than 'specific', a more general look is the way to go.

Game Board:

Finally, the game board come out. Pulling this out explained why the game has a heft to it. Let me just say right out that I only have good things to say upon seeing the game board for the first time. The board just looks nice and lays flat. I will even go as far to say that the board for WW looks better than WtP, and I like the board that you got with WtP. Could the game board have been printed on heavy card stock instead? Sure, but I’m glad it’s a real game board. I like it, though I know some gamers prefer paper or card stock game boards because they like to mount them on the wall or something. As for me, I’m completely happy with the game board that comes with the game. Should I feel the need to mount it on the wall, or cover it with an acrylic sheet, then I will devise a way. If I had to say anything bad about the game board, my only suggestion would be to make land features stand out a bit more so you can better see the geographical features like mountain ranges and forests that make up that area of eastern America. I’m not saying something like satellite imagery, but just more details to enhance the wilderness, visually.

Plastic Bags:

I was surprised to see eight empty ziplock plastic bags. I guess these are used to organize the counters, but not one or two like other games, they gave me eight! On top of that, the dice and plastic stands come in their own plastic ziplock bags! The eight bags even came with vent holes punched in them... which will now lead me to tell you a quick story. Sometime ago, a friend of mine lost many of his games to a flood. It was a bad thing indeed. However, not all was lost. Like me, he stores his game counters and other bits in ziplock bags. As a result, most of the game counters survived the onslaught of water and he held onto them just in case, which was good for me because one day I bought a game off of ebay and it was missing some of the counters. Also, the counters were badly used, though the other game components were like new... strange huh? Anyway, my friend had a new set of counters for me because his game got destroyed in the flood, but the counters survived because they had been stored in a ziplock bag. Not that I’m planning on subjecting my WW game to any bathtub time, but those vent holes can leak there by damaging or destroying the counters should the game become a victim of a flood or something. But like I said, this is just a side-tracked story and in no way a mark against the plastic bags that you get with WW. I think the vent holes are a great idea because they let the trapped air out when putting the game away.

Plastic Stands:

What can I say about these, they are just plastic stands, right? Wrong! Not only are the plastic pieces made of good plastic, they are well cast and very clean (no flash). Good game components.

Dice:

I’m no dice expert like some of my friends who have vast collections of all sorts of dice, but comparing these game dice to other dice from other games as well as high quality ones you can buy separately, they are of good quality. Not top notch, but better than normal, though, I will pass on any impact tests.

The Cards:

I have a high expectation when it comes to game cards. Why? Well, they are some of the components of a game that get the most use and should be of good quality so that they last. After recently playing two games from FFG - Tide of Iron and Talisman - I have first hand remembrance of quality cards. That is one thing I will have to give FFG credit for. Their games seem to come with high quality playing cards. Not all games do this. I have several games that have very nice looking playing cards, but are not manufactured to last. To take only one example, the cards that came with my Duel in the Dark game (and the expansion, Baby Blitz) while look great, they are not made to last repeated handling. So, I was a little eager to see what type of cards I would get with my WW by GMT. I was actually a bit happier than disappointed. While not of a quality seen in FFG games or even a Bicycle brand stand card deck, they are still better than some of my other games. So, I will only report back a positive comment about the game cards. However, as much as I go on about the quality of playing cards, I now tend to sleeve my game cards, and it just happens that I have some custom card sleeves that fit the WW cards perfectly; though a standard sized sleeve will work even if it is a little bigger than the card. So, you might ask, 'If you sleeve your cards, what difference does it make if the quality of the cards is poor?' Simple, not everyone sleeves their cards, also, if I didn’t already have sleeves that fit perfectly, I would have to play the game without sleeved cards. So quality does matter.

Box Insert:

Next to be pulled out was the box insert. Yes, the box insert. I only pulled it out to see what was under it, but I also put it back in the box. I have to say I like the box insert! It is simple and works great. Normally, I have to place my heavy game boards at the bottom of the box, then place everything else on top. But with some box inserts, I can place some game components on the bottom followed by the game board. Then on top of the game board, I place the game booklets and ref sheets for easy access.

Conclusion:

Is the game worth getting? Quality wise yes, but for the type of game that it is, depends on you, the player. Overall, Washington’s Wars has made a good first impression on me. I was very please after going through the game components (and reading a bit of the rules). I'm please with my purchase because I think this game is of good quality.

Now before you think I’m being biased here (or I play to my favorites), let me just say I’m straightforward and to the point when it comes to my reviews. I try to be unbiased as much as I can, and I draw upon my decades of gaming experience. I also try to take into account what is possible with today’s technology. For example, I do realize a game from the 70’s or 80’s cannot be compared to a game from today or maybe even the 90’s. , Even though some things never change, board games have made significant advices both in the graphics and the game components themselves.

I'm not completely sure why - they say love blinds - but I discovered a long time ago that people seem to get offended and resentful by the truth and/or facts, but it is not uncommon for me to point out short comings of a game. Anyone who has seen some of my other reviews already knows this:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/428353

I also take into account cost, because one would expect higher quality from more expensive games (there are exceptions), and I think WW is a good deal. I need to point out that I have to pay much more for my games than someone living in the US (or Europe). Gone are the days where I use to get free shipping and 20 to 40 percent discounts off the retail price of games. Instead, its retail price plus 20 to 40 percent, not minus.

Should you get this game?

Well, I can’t tell you yes or no simply because gamers are different. Also, I have not played this game three times yet, but if you like We the People, chances are you will like this game as well. But if you are concerned about the quality, let me just say that I give this game a

I hope you enjoyed my simple review and I hope it has answered any questions you might have had about the quality of the game components.

I think my next review will be, 'Washington's Wars by GMT or Liberty by Colombia Games, which one do I prefer?' Unless someone beats me to it.

"

Review: Warhammer: Invasion:: I am very happy I bought this game

2010-06-21T13:08:00.000-07:00

Review: Warhammer: Invasion:: I am very happy I bought this game: "

by Bolger

I thought I had lost it. My ability to find good games that is. My Christmas purchases included Phoenicia (ehh, no… clunky and not really working with rules as written), Conflict of Heroes: SoS (nope, just not fun), and Maori (nice, but not great). I had been trying to branch out a bit, but failed miserably. So, when on a whim I picked up Warhammer: Invasion at the local game store, my hopes weren’t exactly high. I knew about the game and had heard many good things about it, but it was a bit outside of my comfort zone (or rather, outside of my wife’s comfort zone), and I was really doubting how much I would enjoy it and how much it would get played. On my way home I cursed my desperate urge to continue to branch out and was pretty certain that the game would very soon be sitting on the trade table. I should have bought another stock euro. That would at least get played…

But man did I enjoy my first try of this game! We had a gaming evening planned, but in the end all except one friend bailed out and we had a good chance to try out some two player games. We ended up playing three sessions of Warhammer: Invasion, and would have played more if we just had time. I have since played it 5 times more, and every game has been great. The game manages to include so many things I enjoy in games: variable cards, conflict, engine building, resource management, and a very strong theme. So I guess you now understand what kind of grade I will give this game, but first a bit more info about the game.

What's in the box. Image by Garnett11.

General facts

This game is in its essence a card game. It is classified as a living card game, meaning that there is a base game but also many expansions coming out with extra cards. The base game and every expansion includes known cards in contrast to collectible card games that have unknown cards. The game play is also supposed to be similar to several collectible card games out there, but I haven’t played these titles so I can’t compare.

One of the cards from the base game. Image by gh0ul.

In the base rules, each player gets a deck of 40 cards representing a certain race. The game is set in the Warhammer universe, so the races that are playable are Dwarves, Humans (mostly Empire + Brettonia), Chaos and Orcs. To these 40 cards, 10 neutral cards are mixed in, so 50 cards per player is the norm. There is no reason why you would not include more cards in your decks, and once you have bought a few expansions there is probably good reason to do so, but in our games so far we have been playing with 50 cards.

The cards depict units, buildings or different events, everything in gorgeous full color paintings. The Warhammer nerd is bound to recognize a lot of the units, but even someone not used to Warhammer can definitely enjoy the beautiful illustrations and the strong theme conveyed by the cards. Unless you hate Fantasy, in which case you really should steer clear of this game.

Game Play

Each player has a board with three zones marked: Kingdom, Battlefield, and Quest. In a turn, a player plays cards from his/her hand into these three zones and pays for each card played with resources (tokens included).

An example of a player's board (the orcs). Image by Tommy_M.

Without going into full detail, cards played into the Kingdom zone increase the number of resources the player gets each turn, and cards played into the quest zone increase the number of cards the player gets each turn. Cards in the Battlefield zone can be used to attack the zones of the other player, and this is also how the game is won. If you damage a zone enough it starts burning. Once two of your opponents zones are burning you have won the game. There are also tactics cards that can be played directly from your hand, even in the other players turn, and this adds a lot of interaction and fun.

A game in full swing. Image by red_gobbo.

Every race has a flavor that is definitely its own. Cards are different and the overall composition of the decks is different. You cannot use orc tactics if you are playing dwarves and so on, you have to adapt your play to the deck you use. This is extremely well done, and all races are equally fun to play. Well, I think so.

My thoughts about the game

This game is an extremely solid two player game. If you enjoy Fantasy, don’t mind (or even like) a lot of text on the cards, and like having many options open to you I would strongly recommend the game. The different race decks and the number of expansions already out there make it very easy to vary the game. The random order of the cards also means that every session will be different.

I can see this game appeal to many types of gamers, and I would definitely not say it is only for ameritrashers or eurogamers or whatever. There is something in this game for everyone. However, the amount of text on the cards is probably too much of a hurdle for most casual players. The rules are really not that hard, but the cards are full of small exceptions and extra rules, and you have to be willing to put a bit of extra effort into getting through that.

My rating

I give this is a very solid 8. That’s a very good rating in my book.

"

First Impression: Small World: Tales & Legends

2010-06-21T13:07:00.000-07:00

First Impression: Small World: Tales & Legends: "

By W. Eric Martin

June 20, 2010

Designers: Laurent Verrier & Philippe Keyaerts

Publisher: Days of Wonder

Rules Language: English/French/German

Price: $15

Release date: June 2010 (Europe) / July 2010 (North America)

Links:

Version played: Comped review copy

Times played: Twice, both with two players

You know what’s awesome in a game of Small World? Marauding seafaring necro-Tritons supercharged with a temporary shot of Commando. Normally this combination is not possible in Small World, players being limited to the oh-so-mundane combination of one Special Power and one Race, but Small World: Tales & Legends gives you the chance to open up the throttle, create new and more powerful armies, and blaze your way across the game board.

Or be blazed across, I suppose.

Small World: Tales & Legends consists of 54 event cards, and the basic idea of the deck is that one event card is put into play each game round (after the first), with players having a single round of advance notice as to what’s coming.

Sometimes the advance notice is crucial and pushes you in a direction that might not have come to mind otherwise. Forbidden Forest, for example, prevents players from conquering forest regions on the turn that it’s active. If you’re worried about being bottled into part of the board in the subsequent round, you can take action this round to perhaps avoid the future trouble. Golden Age prevents players from going into decline the turn that it’s in play. If you’re on the verge of deciding that your race is running out of gas, you might feel compelled to head into decline earlier than you otherwise would – even though doing so would lessen the obstacles for players taking actions after you. Lower your defenses, or risk having your army dwindle to nothing? Which will you choose?

With other event cards, knowing the event doesn’t really clue you in as to what’s coming. The Art of Combos, for example, kicks off an auction on the turn it becomes active for the bottommost Special Power in the stack; the auction winner adds this power to his active race or sets it aside until he takes a new race. You don’t know what the power will be until the turn starts, so you can’t position yourself on the board to any effect, but you will know what’s up for auction when the time comes. Marauding Tritons – time for you to go seafaring!

The 54 cards are classified two ways: First, with a theme icon such as “Miracles for Sale!” or “The Gods must be Crazy,” and second, with a rating of how much the event will impact game play, from minor affairs to wordly consequences to mind-blower. When using Tales & Legends, you can draw 7-9 random cards from the deck (depending on how many players are in the game), draw randomly from all cards with a specific rating, or use only the cards in a theme. Each theme has nine cards, so in a two- or three-player game all of these cards will come into play; only the order of the cards will be surprising. With four or five players, one or two of the themed cards will remain out of play.

Opening a Larger World

As I noted in my April 2009 review of Small World, success in the game will depend on your ability to choose the right race/power combo based on the number of players, which round you’re in, the current situation on the game board, the other race/power combos on display, the weather forecast, and a host of other data points. A combo that romps at the start of a two-player game might flounder at the end of the game or be near useless with four or five players.

Tales & Legends adds even more things to consider each round, whether you’re choosing a new race/power combo, thinking about going into decline, or deciding where to attack. Since a number of the cards auction their power to the highest bidder, you also have to evaluate how valuable a power might be to you – or to an opponent – to determine how much to bid.

For example, I nabbed Necromantic Elixir for what, in retrospect, was the bargain price of three points, granting my Tritons the Ghoul ability to go into decline, yet still attack in future rounds. I immediately sent the Tritons into decline in order to get a second race on the subsequent turn – and not coincidentally on the turn that the Tough Love event card would become active. Tough Love is another auction card that grants the winner the Commando power for all conquests on that turn. After winning that card in auction – on the tie-breaker, mind you, which states that the shorter player wins ties – I had Marauding Seafaring Ghoulish Commando Tritons attacking twice along the coastline and around the lake, then Commando Swamp Kobolds racing across the bottom of the two-player board to claim seven regions. (Commando Kobolds is not necessarily a great combination, but since I was attacking occupied regions, the discount paid off.) My opponent’s forces were annihilated, and I scored double-digit points in the next four rounds.

Interpreting the Legends

Based on only two plays, I can already predict that Days of Wonder will post a FAQ for Tales & Legends once the expansion debuts. The rules within the expansion are brief and don’t detail any of the event cards’ abilities; with 54 different events, some of them boasting more than ten lines of text, you can be sure that questions will arise about some of them.

With The Great Curse, for example, or its counterpart Rats ["All Racial Powers (including those in decline, if any) are useless this turn. Special Powers still apply"], how do those abilities play out during the game? With Rats it was clear that my Tritons lost their discount for attacking shoreline areas, but what about my Kobolds? Did they lose their “special power” – which is really a handicap – of requiring two tokens to be in an area at all times? I feel confident that Ghouls would not be able to attack when Rats is in play, but would you have to discard tokens in regions that hold more than one Ghoul since being able to have multiple tokens in decline is one of the Ghouls’ special powers? Does your tower of declined Priestesses topple? If Seafaring is useless, do I need to remove any tokens on the water?

Another oddity is Blue Genes, in which players auction for the right to choose a race and power (not necessarily an existing combo) from those currently visible in the queue. The winner must pay coins equal to the location of the more expensive combo half, but where do the coins go? And how do you handle coins already in the queue? The base rules state that when you pass, you place a coin on the combos that you skip – but now Blue Genes lets you tear apart existing combos. We placed the coins in a position in the queue (instead of on the combos themselves) and got on with the game, but I can imagine others being anxious about how exactly such abilities should be handled.

Matt Thrower: Up To Eleven

2010-06-21T13:06:00.003-07:00

Matt Thrower: Up To Eleven: "

I recently got involved in a pretty heated debate over a list of perceived grievances about hobby gaming posted by one Michael Barnes. Whether you agree with his arguments or not it the list itself makes interesting reading, written as it is with the authors’ usual style and panache, and the discussion that follows is lengthy and peppered with personal abuse but is even more interesting to my mind. I don’t intend to go over that ground again here - that would be pointless since you can read the discussion if you want to know my opinions of the subject - but rather I thought it would be interested to look at what I think is the reason why some people perceive there to be problems with creativity, variety and professionalism in the hobby because personally it seems to me that a lot of these issues are linked to one single underlying factor.

There are two particular things that stand out about board gaming in comparison with other gaming hobbies that are relevant here. The first is the relative ease of design and production in our corner of the industry. Someone who wants to design and publish a computer game has got many, many long hours of level design before them and then many longer hours of writing and testing code to say nothing at all of the vast teams of people and thousands of man-hours that go into developing top-drawer professionally published video games. If you’re in the RPG corner you’ve got a lot of source material to think about before you can even consider game mechanics. If you want to design a miniatures game then you may even have to start to think about designing and sculpting your own figures, a process that requires incredible dedication and skill. And of course, you’ll likely already have realised that a budding board game designer has a huge and daunting overhead of repeated design-test-develop cycles in front of them. But what’s unique about board games is that alone amongst hobby games there is a sizeable contingent of games which remain very close to their mathematical roots, to the point where maths and logic skills are a great aid to successful play: abstracts and a lot of Euros. And if you reverse engineer that you’ll note that that means maths skills are a great aid to successful design. What I’m getting at is that a lot of the most streamlined, logical design in board gaming likely don’t require a lot of play testing because a maths whiz will be able to work out whether or not the elements of the design are well balanced and challenging enough by applying good logic to the design and algorithms to the testing.

That probably sounds like a bold claim, especially from someone who has never designed a game. And of course it doesn’t really apply to a lot of family games, wargames and ameritrash games. So in support of my claim I offer this evidence: how come it is relatively common to see game design competitions in amongst Eurogame communities, often with ridiculously short closing times attached to them? Other hobby areas do hold similar competitions but they’re rare events, with significant lead times and often considerable kudos if not actual cash attached to doing well. Yet some Euro-fans appear to treat the process of design as a rapid, throwaway process just because they can. You can see a similar thing going on with professional designers, where the most active of them are churning out several games a year. Compare this with designers in other areas of board gaming who tend to see one or two games at most come out in a given year. And Lord knows, if I had the knack to churn this stuff out and make a name for myself and a bit of money, I’d probably do it as well. Publishing can be similarly lightweight - most people could afford to fund a small, minimal-quality print run of a self designed game if they wanted to, or failing that there’s self-publishing for people to make as a print-and-play.

Which brings us on to the second element I wanted to discuss, which is the tendency of board gamers to collect things. That tendency pretty much ensures that if a hobbyist wanted to put down some money on a self-financed print run of anything other than the most atrocious game design, they’d probably sell enough to cover their costs. After all the rarity adds to the desire: I wish myself sometimes that I’d picked up a copy of Border Reivers while I had the chance - it looks like a pretty interesting game - and now the publisher has folded without ever doing a reprint. Now this, unlike design churn, isn’t unique to board games. Pretty much every element of the gaming hobby tends to encourage this aspect to some degree. What’s different about board gaming is the sheer physical space and time required to store and appreciate a sizeable collection of games. The stuff from my miniatures gaming days fill three small storage boxes in my loft: that’s three full fantasy armies plus assorted rule books, paints, modelling tools and so forth. Over the course of a few years I had the time to play with every one of those armies repeatedly. In other words although I collected stuff it didn’t take up too much space and I got plenty of usage out of my collection. On the other hand I have single coffin-box board games that wouldn’t fit in one of the packing cases I use to store an entire miniature army, let alone my entire board game collection. And 1/5th of my collection of board games has never been played, with a similar proportion having seen play only once or twice because again, unlike most hobby games, board games often require both extended free time to play and other people to play with. A miniatures gamer, alone, can paint figures. An RPG fan, alone, can read source books or design adventures. And either can do it for a much of as little time as they please. Not so the poor board gamer: if I want to play Twilight Imperium 3 I have no choice but to find at least 3 other gamers and at least 4-5 hours of time in which to play it. And by the standard of a lot of board game hobbyists, my collection is relatively modest and well-used. The point I’m making is that uniquely amongst hobby games the collect ability-aspect has got to the point where for many gamers the collecting is more important than the gaming.

So where am I going with this, you might well wonder? I don’t think either of these aspects is healthy in themselves and I think they should be discouraged. But if personal distaste isn’t enough to convince you then I’ll go further and say that it’s these twin aspects which have had the pernicious influence on the hobby as a whole that causes Mr. Barnes, and others, to see stagnation and sameness creeping into every corner. Because between them, what they lead to is an unsustainable volume of board games being published: more games than gamers can sensibly consume and play. I don’t believe there is a lack of variety or inventiveness in the board game hobby. It’s simply this sheer volume of output that causes there to appear to be a lack of innovation or creativity because the games that do stand out for whatever reason, whether its something new and clever in the design or something unusual in the theme or something striking about the art, unfortunately stand a very good chance of simply being buried in the avalanche of mediocre crap that surrounds them. Even if there are gamers and game writers out their championing the titles that they feel, passionately, deserve more attention, even if they actually get that more widespread acknowledgement, the sheer weight of the new stuff rolling down on top of them causes them, eventually, to be discarded and ignored in favour of newer, inferior titles.

This problem is exacerbated by my own bête noire of board game journalism which is the seeming inability of most reviewers to actually help people pick the wheat from the chaff. Again, it’s a unique aspect of the board gaming hobby that contributes to this which is the exceptionally wide range of tastes that the term “board gaming” covers. The distinction between different genres of video games is pretty narrow yet “board games” covers everything from family-friendly Euro-lite card games to monster wargames that take a lifetime to set-up and play and, even more confusingly, there is just sufficient commonality between the two to make a fan of each genre want to occasionally dip their toes in the others’ water so to speak. But the end result of this is just another reason as to why board gamers seem to continue to tolerate being drenched in chaff in a manner that would have turned off many other hobbyists many moons ago.

This problem even feeds into the lack of professionalism generally amongst writers in the hobby, one of the few critiques that Michael made in his original article that I wholeheartedly agree with and indeed would even extend to a lot of people who should know better, including many designers and publishers. Indeed one could even argue that pushing this stuff out en masse is actually pretty unprofessional in the first place but hey, people keep buying it so other people will keep making it. But when there’s such a glut of stuff around to look at, how can anyone seriously take on the task of bringing more objective, let alone aesthetic, analysis to the task of analysing so many games? As a game hobbyist I’ve simply had to pass by a number of games labelled as innovative by other writers in recent years, such as War of Edadh, and similarly other writers have no doubt missed out on some more marginal games that have impressed me with their creativity such as The Hell of Stalingrad. Video game journalists have it easy by comparison - it takes perhaps 30 hours of play time to get enough of a handle on a top-quality title to subject it to a rigorous critique, and the release schedule of big name games is spaced apart enough to easily fit in the time required and have plenty to spare to look at less glittery offerings from smaller publishers. For a good board game, 30 hours of play time might hardly scratch the surface, and the release schedule is overloaded with unknown stuff from unknown publishers, any one of which might be a gem waiting to be discovered.

There is of course an unfortunate Catch-22 here which is that if we reduce the volume of output from designers and publishers, there’s a smaller chance that something creative and clever will turn up in the first place. The answer to this links back to the level of professionalism on display from designers and publishers: if they were to spend more time making sure that what reached the market was top-quality stuff then we wouldn’t have this problem in the first place. Of course they’d have less stock to sell, and that in turn means higher prices. But here, again the volume problem links back to Michael’s list of concerns because I think a lot of gamers would be willing to spend more money on games if they had a much higher level of quality assurance. And if you’re charging more for the base product, the extra added by cool stuff in the box be it miniatures or artwork or the electronic wizardy Michael wants or, who knows, something truly, outrageously creative that we’ve yet to think of, will be a smaller proportion of the price and will be noticed less. So we pay more but we get better games with proportionately higher production quality.

Sadly, the bottom line here is that before we can address this problem, gamers have to decide for themselves whether there actually is a problem. A lot of board gamers seem to like collecting unplayed games and watching them gather dust. Indeed as the original article points out the currently top-dog of gaming sites, boardgamegeek, is as much about collecting games as it is about playing them. I originally got out of the world of miniatures gaming because I got fed up with the fact that most miniatures gamers, and the businesses that catered for them, were more interested in the modelling and painting side of the hobby than they were in the game side. It’ll be a great shame if and, and others, were to eventually burn out on board games because too many board gamers were more interested in collecting crap than playing gems.

Second Look — Dweebies

2010-06-21T13:06:00.002-07:00

Second Look — Dweebies: "

The following is a guest post by my daughter, Barrie. Gamewright sent me a complimentary copy of their new card game Dweebies, and it’s been such a hit with my family that Barrie asked to write the review.

The game Dweebies is a very interesting game. The Dweebies are very cute. I like how you have to match up the Dweebies on both ends to collect the cards. One of the fun things about the game is that there isn’t always an even number of cards. Some of the Dweebies are Scientist Dweebie, Doctor Dweebie, Chef Dweebie, and Artist Dweebie.

I like how the game works. You don’t know if you’re going to get the cards or someone else will put down the card before you. One thing that isn’t so fun is that on some turns you have to put down a card somewhere even if you don’t want to [Ed.: when there are unconnected cards in the play area, the next player is required to fill in the gap]. Another thing I don’t like about the game is that sometimes you don’t know what the Dweebies are. Dweebies isn’t the most challenging game but it is very fun and cute.

I recommend this game to someone who is looking for a card game. The cards for the game are sort of thick so they are good and they will last. I like the game because the cards are very cute and funny. The game is a good game to play with the whole family. Dweebies is not too hard to play so it is easy to play with little kids.

Carcassonne iPhone App Now Available

2010-06-21T13:06:00.001-07:00

Carcassonne iPhone App Now Available: "

In April 2010 I posted an item about 2001 Game of the Year Carcassonne finally moving onto the iPhone and iPod Touch. That app is now available (link opens iTunes) as of June 4, 2010, and it has already garnered 57 five-star ratings on iTunes, with no ratings at any lower level. Guess it’s pretty good…

The app is compatible with the Apple iPad, and a free iPad specific update will be released later in 2010.

(HT: Brian Stormont)

Review: A Game of Thrones:: A Game of Thrones reviewed in 10 criteria

2010-06-21T13:06:00.000-07:00

Review: A Game of Thrones:: A Game of Thrones reviewed in 10 criteria: "

by cartesius

NOTE: For a better understanding of this review, I recommend to visit the GeekList that I've created where I explain the aspects that I cover in my game reviews:

My 10 criteria for reviewing a game

Some other general points have been added to this review such Overall opinion.

Feel free to add your suggestions and/or comments!

I won't focus on explaining the rules since there are usually many good threads covering that.

1. STRATEGY

A Game of Thrones (from now on GoT) is a strategy game where players have a good number and type of actions to develop their plans. You can also play improved actions, which add more options and, therefore, more strategy. This variety of actions and the way they are planned secretly are my favorite ingredients in the game.

You can also develop your strategy in short, medium and long terms, focusing on some territories first and targeting others later on. This can also be extended to your aggressions and alliances, which are key in the game, as well as when to break them

Bids are other interesting elements (influence tracks, defending Westeros), as well as the possibility to choose the noble card in every confrontation.

Something that I don’t like in the game is the sea ruling situation: one player can get control of the sea and the rest of players can’t do anything to change it because they can’t build new ships. I think this has been fixed in the rules of the last expansions.

2. DEPTH

As you will read later in the Overall opinion, I think this is the weakest point of the game: you have many nice ingredients for developing your strategy but not deep enough.

Yes, your attacks, alliances and movements will have impact in the game, sure, but I can’t see high complexity on this, so at the end, the essence of the game is reduced to expand, attack and pray for the right event happens at the right moment.

3. PLAYER INTERACTION

In a kind of game like GoT, player interaction is implict. Negotiation and attacks are the juice of this game.

There isn’t any trading as there are no (typical) resources to deal for, although I wonder if trading with power chits in negotiations could be an interesting houserule…

4. REPLAYABILITY

I don’t think GoT is very replayable because of the reason that I mentioned before: despite the many options we have, the general approach looks too linear to me. If I compare GoT with Risk on this, I still prefer Risk: yes, its approach is even simpler (just kill!) but then I don’t have complex that slow down the game.

In favor of replayability, every house is different from another so it could be interesting to try every one out to feel the differences, although this has the risk to reach to the conclusion that some are unbalanced, as it’s my feeling.

There are also some expansions and this certainly helps to keep the game alive.

5. THEME INTEGRATION

Being a game based on a books series, this aspect can’t hardly ever fail. I haven’t read the books but have heard that the game is pretty well adapted.

Leaving the books adaption aside, the game fits very well with the theme: armies split in the board, you give them orders, conquer regions in the map, bids for power, events… they get me into the atmosphere.

6. LUCK FACTOR

A wargame without dice sounds like pretty low in luck factor (this means high on this rating). The reason of why the rating is not higher is because of the event cards. It can be frustrating when you are high in supplies but the adjustment of supplies event doesn’t come up. Same thing goes when you need to recruit. I think these events condition the strategy too much making the game a bit random, so sometimes some players are benefitted over other.

What I do like as a low-luck mechanism are bids: they are very psychological and let you play with the idea of you want it? you pay for it

7. ORIGINALITY

I don’t know many wargames with no dice, secret actions revealed simultaneously, and bids.

I find GoT pretty original and with a nice set of mechanisms that fit well.

And I bet this is the only game based on the books series (sorry for the bad joke!)

8. COMPONENTS QUALITY

Quite acceptable. The board is big enough as well as the cards, with good design. The winners of the influence tracks (Iron Throne, Steel Sword and Messenger Raven) get very nice cardboard tokens in their shapes. The game also comes with initial setup cards which I think they are not determinant but always useful.

I would have preferred miniatures for the armies rather than wooden abstract pieces but even so, they are pretty OK: knights, infants and ships are clearly identified.

9. RULES

I found the rulebook quite clear and easy to read, and I don’t think it’s a game that leaves many leaks for doubts, which is not uncommon in many wargames.

The game course is pretty straightforward and that helps.

What you need to watch out is for not exceeding the maximum army size allowed.

10. FUN FACTOR

I understand the main fun of wargames is slaughtering enemy armies. GoT gives a good chance for this. It’s not a massive killing game (as Risk) but war is essential and it is funny to see alliances breaking and that kind of political actions taken in a game like this.

You will like it if...

- You like wargames and don’t like the dice luck.

- You enjoy forging alliances and attacking enemies, as in Risk.

You won't like it if...

- You are more fan of eurogames.

- You don’t like asymmetric games.

OVERALL OPINION

When I played GoT for the first time I was very excited: Risk had been our “religion” in my group of gamers, so I when I discovered this kind of wargame without dice and with secret actions, I was gladly surprised.

However, this level of enthusiasm has been going down after every game. Not only because I’m skeptical with asymmetric games but mainly because I think the course of this game is quite predictable and doesn’t leave too much open: first turns you expand to your nearby regions to gain strength and supplies; then you make some alliances and attacks; if one house is clearly in a better position than others, it becomes the enemy to beat.

That said, it’s not a bad a game. It gathers nice mechanics but doesn’t hook me up.

Maybe I haven’t played enough games and I’ve become too much eurogamer, but I don’t feel like playing GoT very oftenly.

If you've liked this review, you can see my other reviews in My compendium of Reviews using 10 criteria.

"

SAZ on the State of Game Designer Recognition

2010-06-21T13:05:00.001-07:00

SAZ on the State of Game Designer Recognition: "

Spiele-Autoren-Zunft (SAZ) is a German game designer association to which any game designer worldwide can belong, and the group serves as something like a union or bargaining group for designers. In 1988, at the suggestion of Reinhold Wittig, thirteen designers (including Wolfgang Kramer and Alex Randolph) signed the ”Coaster Proclamation,” in which they vowed not to submit games to companies that would not place their name on the cover.

In late May 2010, SAZ published an overview of the standing of game designers in the industry. An excerpt:

The game designer must be named on the box cover! That has never been taken as a matter of course. The famous Coaster Proclamation from 1988, signed by Alex Randolph and other noted game designers, was an important signal and marked the start of a gradual change. However, naming the designer is still not a consistent, natural thing. Recognition comparable to book authors, for instance, has not been reached even today.

Review: Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation: Deluxe Edition:: Who knew that a Nazgul, a Hobbit, and Reiner Knizia could make such a good game?

2010-06-21T13:05:00.000-07:00

Review: Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation: Deluxe Edition:: Who knew that a Nazgul, a Hobbit, and Reiner Knizia could make such a good game?: "

by Renaissance Man

Most of my gaming is two-player and limited to about 45 minutes. Thus I was excited when I heard about Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation: Deluxe Edition. I like the Lord of the Rings, and it seemed like a great game to fill the 45 minute gap.

Guess what-it is.

Components and Price

Lord of the Rings is very easily available online for under $20. The components are great, and unbelievable for a game this cheap. It's done by Fantasy Flight, and has all the plasticky goodness you know and love.

The game contains a board, 18 character stands, 18 draft tokens, and 26 cards.

I'm not usually a fan of quad-fold boards, but this one is great. It is almost perfectly smooth across the top, and lies down flat as could be. The artwork, representing Middle Earth, is also very well done.

The 18 characters (9 on each side) are the heart of the game, and FFG has not skimped here. Each character has a stand and a double-sided piece of cardboard that fits in the stand. The stands are plastic, and have gorgeous embossed artwork on the back: a tree for the Fellowship, a for Sauron.

On one side of the pieces is the classic character, on the reverse is the variant. Both sides have a combat strength (a number from -1 to 9) and a special ability (usually good, occasionally bad.) I'll talk more about these later.

Finally, there are the cards. These are incredible, giant and glossy.

The artwork on these is great as well.

Gameplay

LOTR is designed by Reiner Knizia, so you would expect smooth and elegant gameplay. LOTR does this well, while keeping a high fantasy feel that is enough for any Tolkien fan. The Victory conditions represent this very well. The Fellowship can only win by moving Frodo (who bears the Ring) into Mordor. Sauron can win either by killing Frodo (thus preventing the Fellowship from winning) or moving three of his characters into the region representing the Shire.

Initially, players start in a Stratego-like position. Sauron's nine characters are placed around Mordor, while the Fellowship secretly puts theirs near the Shire.

The Sauron player begins by moving on character forward to an adjacent region. Then the Fellowship player does the same. As characters move closer, combat will break out when opposing characters move into the same region. Then both are revealed. Sometimes, the combat ends right then. For example, the Fellowship character Gimli instantly defeats the Orcs, while when Boromir is involved in combat, both he and his opponent are instantly killed. Other characters can retreat: Frodo can retreat sideways when attacked.

If both characters remain in the region, the have numbers and add to a character's combat strength and some text cards, with special abilities. Each chooses a card, then reveals them simultaneously. Then the cards are resolved, and the character with the highest combat strength wins. After combat the cards are discarded. Because each player starts will all of the cards in their hand, each player knows exactly which cards remain in each other's hands, but combat is still very unpredictable and tense.

The best way to understand combat is by an example. Suppose the following two characters engage:

Gandalf (Fellowship): 5 combat, Sauron player must play his card first.

Saruman (Sauron): 4 combat, may decide that no cards are played.

Each player has these cards:

Fellowship: 5, Retreat (retreat backwards)

Sauron: 4, Eye of Sauron (negate effect of opponent's text card)

The Sauron player decides not to use Saruman's special ability, because then he will be sure to lose, 5-4. Therefore, because of Gandalf's special ability, he must choose his card first. If he chooses the 4, he knows he will lose, because the Fellowship still has its 5. If he chooses the Eye of Sauron, he will also lose. Therefore, his choice comes down to which card he would rather have later. He knows that if he plays the 4, then the Fellowship will almost certainly play the 5, and later on the Eye will negate Retreat. Therefore, he plays the 4, the Fellowship plays the 5, and Saruman is killed and removed from the game.

As the game continues, players will get further to the opponent's side of the board, more characters will be killed, and players will run out of combat cards.

Variant Characters, the Draft Game, and Special Cards

The Deluxe version also comes with variant characters on the reverse side of the character cards. There are two variations using these characters. One is the straight variant game, where each side uses only these characters. The other is the draft game. In this, players secretly choose for each character if they will use the classic or variant version. Then the game is played as normal. I haven't played either of these versions, but the draft game seems particularly interesting.

The final variant involves the Special Cards. Each side gets four of these at the start of the game, and they allow the players to do things outside the game rules. For example, the Sauron player has one that allows him to take one character from anywhere on the board and return it to Mordor, while the Fellowship has a card that allows him to place Gandalf in the Fangorn region if it is unoccupied and Gandalf has been defeated. These cards are one use only and add a lot of strategy to the game. I don't think I'll ever play without them, except when teaching new players.

Complaints

I like almost everything about LOTR. The theme, components, and smooth and exciting gameplay come together very well. I have one minor concern, the endgame. In the late stages, once each side is down to two or fewer characters, both will be down to two or fewer combat cards, and most characters have been revealed. Thus endgame play becomes almost entirely deterministic. It is very complex in these situations, as special cards and special abilities make figuring out all the possibilities mind-bending. The game becomes a brain-burner here, and as my dad is prone to AP, can bog down.

Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation: Deluxe Edition is a fantastic game. If you like LOTR, and want a fast, tense two-player game, then absolutely check this out.

Overall Rating: /"

Review: Neuroshima Hex!:: The Cycle of War.

2010-06-21T13:04:00.002-07:00

Review: Neuroshima Hex!:: The Cycle of War.: "

by blinks

Two to four players, best with two, good with any amount.

About half an hour to play, longer with more players.

A hex-based, tile-laying, post-apocalyptic strategy game. How much better can it get? It plays well with two, uses variable player powers (think Starcraft's Zerg, Terran, and Protoss, and you're halfway there), and has a hand-management mechanic that gets the brain burning. For more casual strategy gamers I'll pull out Small World, but if someone wants a challenge, out comes The Hex.

Neuroshima Hex is actually based on a Polish RPG (Neuroshima) set in a story-ridden post-apocalyptic world of robots and mutants. The Hex itself reeks of background, with fully half of the player aids devoted to the place your team holds in the RPG. Fortunately the game plays just as well without that background, and it just serves for some light flavoring.

Each turn, the active player draws some hexes from their deck, discards at least one hex, and plays some hexes. Some of your hexes are units, which you play by positioning them on an empty space on the board, where direction matters. Other hexes are actions, which you play by acting, then discarding the hex. Note that there is no combat phase.

To battle, you must draw and play a battle hex; timing is everything. Since you win by destroying other headquarters (or by scoring VPs by damaging them in my preferred variant), you need to wait until positions are favorable. However, the hex takes space in your hand (max size: two!), so you shouldn't wait too long after drawing it. You have a limited number of battles in your deck, so discarding it is a difficult decision to make, but occasionally necessary. Fortunately for your brain, battles are completely predictable. You can look at the board and determine exactly what will happen if you play that hex. The ramifications of that might not be immediately apparent, though...

Everything in Neuroshima revolves around the battle, and this cycle of build-up and destroy. The first few rounds, few tiles are on the board, and battles will have little to no effect. As the game builds up, the board gets more and more crowded (pieces don't often move, and the field is snug), until a battle is practically necessary to clear it. Once the battle happens, lots of pieces leave the board, since most have only a single hit point. The build-up happens again, the battle tears everything down again. 'War never changes.'

Hex is big on positioning. Your board position is often very static (though some races change that a bit), meaning that the decision of how to rotate a piece can make or break the game. Pieces have triangles on them to notate the direction and strength of attacks -- one short triangle points in the direction of a melee attack that does one damage, while three long triangles point in the direction of a three-damage ranged attack. Different races have different units available, including brawlers that do melee damage to three adjacent sides, and net fighters that disable a unit on one side of them. The board state can quickly get complicated when you have four players.

You play until you run out of tiles or until someone hits 20 damage/VPs (which rarely happens in my games), making a built-in time limit that keeps things short and play tense. The tile pile has other effects on the game, as well -- the number of each tile in your deck is public information, and everyone knows what you've seen, what you've discarded, and what's in your hand. If you've gone through all five battle tiles in your deck, they know that you can't initiate another. If you've used your single sniper tile, people no longer need to play around it. If both players in a two-player game have gone through all their battle tiles, the rest of the game can be rather boring. Fortunately, you get one last battle when the game ends, ensuring that things get a final shake-up.

Play with three or four people has interesting issues -- if you play for HQ damage, you get player elimination, which can be generally unhappy. The game's time limit mitigates that problem somewhat, though. If you play with damage-as-VPs, one player's HQ could end up out in the open, basically just acting as a VP farm and a degenerate strategy for the other players. With four players, playing on teams mitigates this quite a bit.

In all, recommended for anyone looking for an interesting strategy game to add to the collection. Neuroshima Hex plays well with two, putting it into an elite group, and can be played in under an hour, making it more unique still. It's a tile-placement hex game to boot, and the different races give each game a different feel. Give it a shot with your Chess or Go buddy, and let me know what you think."

Review: Basari:: Basari - A delightful little gem!

2010-06-21T13:04:00.001-07:00

Review: Basari:: Basari - A delightful little gem!: "

by jebry

Overview:

Basari is a light weight negotiation game that plays 3-4 players and can be completed in under an hour. That makes it an ideal filler game to start the night (while you wait for everyone to show up) or to finish the night (while you wait for the rest of the games to complete). I'll review the gameplay and rules and then provide some assessments.

Game and Rules:

In Basari you play the part of gem merchants who buy, sell and barter four types of gems, in order from best to worst: red, yellow, green and blue. Each player starts with three of each type of gem, three action cards, one die and three pawns (one to track score, one to move and one to mark your starting spot). The board consists of a scoring track, a movement track and four carpets to hold the gem supplies (there are 25 of each type of gem in the game). Every one chooses a starting arch on the board and places their starting marker and their merchant on that arch. They also place their scoring marker on the zero spot of the scoring track. The game consists of three rounds each with a variable number of turns. At the end of three rounds the person with the most VPs wins.

Every turn has two phases: movement and action. For the movement phase the player who is ahead on the VP track will roll their die and everyone moves their merchant pawn clockwise around the movement track the indicated number of arches. Each arch has two values associated with it: a certain number of gems (in one color or a combination of colors) and a certain number of victory points (varying from 4-7 VP).

After moving, every player is allowed to choose one action out of the following three possibilities:

1. Gems - The player receives the gems indicated under their arch.

2. VPs - The player receives the VPs indicated under their arch.

3. Roll die - The player rolls their die and moves the indicated number of spaces. And then gains 6-(their roll) VPs

If only one player chooses an action then they get to do it. If 3+ players choos an action then noone gets to do it. If exactly two players choose an action then the negotiation starts!

To negotiate each player offers the other player a number of their own gems for the right to take the action chosen. It starts with the player ahead on the VP track (or by random die rolls if they are tied) who must offer some gems or just allow the other player to take the action (which is very rare!!). Then it alternates between the players who must either accept the offer, or raise it. To raise the offer, they must increase the number of gems or the value of the gems. using the value order listed above. Each offer is distinct from the previous one so a player can take back gems and totally redo their offer as long as it is more valuable then the existing offer. Once a player accepts an offer, then the other player completes their chosen action.

These turns continue until at least one players merchant piece lands on or past their starting marker. That completes a round. At the end of a round there is a scoring turn. The player with the most of a certain color of gem is allowed to sell some gems to the market for victory points:

Red - 14VP

Yellow - 12VP

Green - 10VP

Blue - 8VP

The player scores these VPs and returns three gems to the general supply. If there is a tie then each tying player shares the VP (rounding down) and returns two gems to the general supply. Then every player whose merchant piece made a complete circuit (landed on or passed their starting marker) gets 10VP as a bonus. Then all players move their starting marker to their merchant and they start the next round. After three rounds, whoever is ahead wins.

Assessments:

Gameplay: Basari is fun to play because, even though it is light and fast, deciding on your actions can be very difficult. You definitely need to avoid negotiations as much as possible so you have to very aware of other players' situations at all times. It is very interactive!

My Score: 5/5

Theme: Sorry, but the theme is meh. You can describe the game in terms of the theme, but it would be just as fun as a total abstract!

My Score: 2/5

Components: They walk the line between durable and inexpensive very well with Basari! The gems are standard colored plastic gems but the board is heavy stock and the pieces are wood. The action cards are a bit thin, but that is ok since they don't need to be shuffled.

My Score: 4/5

Scalability: Basari scales extremely well, but that is mainly due to the fact that it is only for 3-4 players.

My Score: 3/5

Overall: Basari is well worth the price and will get a lot of play time in most game groups because it fits its roll of a filler game very well. I don't think you will be disappointed if you get this one!

My Score: 4/5"

Review: The Battle for Hill 218:: Is that a game in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

2010-06-21T13:04:00.000-07:00

Review: The Battle for Hill 218:: Is that a game in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?: "

by JBellor

I first heard of The Battle For Hill 218 on Tom Vasel's The Dice Tower podcast, and the ad sounded somewhat cheesy (as do most ads on there, I thought). The only reason it lodged in my mind is because I was going through a Dice Tower marathon while working: being a third shift janitor who works alone can have *some* perks. It took me a year or so to read up on it on BGG, and the first thing I noticed was that it is designed by Darwin Kastle, whom I knew of as a member of the Magic: The Gathering hall of fame and the handsome fellow pictured on the card Avalanche Riders. Looking through the forums, the publisher of the game, Chad Ellis, was a frequent poster and all-around pleasant fellow; these two factors moved the game up on my 'to-buy' list.

Several months later and I need to fill out an order from an online retailer - gotta make that $100 free shipping mark! - and Battle For Hill 218 fit the bill. Two copies were left in stock and I knew I wouldn't be ordering again soon, so into the shopping cart it went. When my shipment arrived a week later, BFH218 moved to the bottom of the 'to-play' pile, mostly because the shipment also contained Ingenious and Stone Age. A few days later, I start to examine it.

Right off the bat, the game got a few marks against it (I'm picky :P) because of the box. On the front, a typo ('Now in it's second printing' should be 'Now in its second printing'), and the back has a quote from InQuest Gamer Magazine, a defunct (though possibly not at the time the game was printed) CCG magazine not known for its board or card game coverage, though I suppose I should point out that at least one of the playtesters for the game named in the Game Credits page (Thorin McGee) was an editor/writer for that magazine (and quite a funny guy, from what I remember!). Setting the typo complaint aside, I was surprised at the quality of the components inside. The cards are quite striking, with bold colors, a nice glossy surface, a firm weight and construction, and pictures of excellent clarity and impact, though both sides (colors) are identical: the pictures are the same for both the green army and the blue army. There are only a few words on each card, and everything you need to know about the card and what it does are explained with a few icons. The rulebook is quite excellent, 23 pages of solid description and a few illustrations of some gameplay situations. If anything, it reminds me of the first few Magic: The Gathering rulebooks, and I felt a ping of nostalgia. Not to mention, no typos (I'm anal). ;)

My brother and I read the rules and played several games in a row, and after the first few, I was somewhat less than impressed. The games were ending far too quickly, sometimes on turn two, and I wondered when the fun would start. After the third straight game where the second player played Artillery in his base and Paratroopers into the now empty enemy base for an instant win, we decided to look in the rulebook to see if we had missed something, and page 13 made it quite clear where we went wrong, with a helpful underline to enforce the point: 'Paratroopers draw supply like Infantry but can be deployed without supply to any space on the grid other than the enemy base.' There we go. Our subsequent games were much more tactical and lasted longer than two turns, and a surprising amount of fun was waiting right there.

BFH218 does its thing, and does it well. It is exactly as described: a fast and deep tactical game for two players. At first glance it may look like what we describe as 'playing for the turn': what is the most damage I can do this turn? After a few games, though, the surprising depth begins to peek out. Yes, destroying that unit next to the hill and advancing up one space with Heavy Weapons is a fine move for this turn, but planning for the turn following is even better. Using an Air Strike this turn, or both, will not only take out a few units but will give me card advantage, since if you use an Air Strike, you don't get to play any cards. But before you rush out and just nuke whatever looks good, what are you going to play next turn to advance forward? Is your opponent going to just play two units to replace the two open positions, or will he change tactics and advance a different way? He's played two Artillery units already, is the third in his hand? The funny part about this method of thinking is that you don't suddenly have an 'Oh! I do better when I plan' sort of moment; it gradually begins to happen as you play.

Comparisons to chess are often made in reviews, and I think that's an apt analogy, though the Inquest comparison to Go seems a bit closer to me. Placements made on turn two can still have an impact many turns later, and once you place a card, it's there to stay unless it's destroyed, and it only gets one attack, so you'd better make it count.

The World War II theme is apparent from the photographs, though nowhere in the rulebook or on the box is that term used. As such, the game could be easily adapted to any era of combat, though you would be somewhat hard-pressed to find a different term for Air Strike for any pre-WWI era of combat. Strangely, the theme does not seem 'pasted-on' in the sense that the designers simply picked the era of combat most popular with gamers, and I find it difficult to explain exactly why. That said, the game could easily be re-organised for the Euro market by making it about...I don't know, weeds (kudzu, maybe) from your garden (your 'Base') attempting to take over your neighbor's garden (the opponent's 'Base'). Weeds not being very powerful, they can only 'overgrow' ('Attack') your neighbor's garden or weeds with support. Air Strikes represent Hoe Attacks for when your lazy gardener finally gets off his rump and tries to tidy things up.

Now, that doesn't sound like much fun, I'm sure, but the core gameplay wouldn't change much (and yes, that was just off the top of my head. It's not a variant or something). And that shows you the real strength of the game, and the variety of categories it fits in. It's a wargame, in the sense that there is a simulation (however loose) of conflict; an abstract, in the sense that the cards are really nothing more than Chess pieces, or Checkers pieces, or Go pieces; a card game, in the tradition of Rummy and War and Uno and Crazy Eights, in the sense that the game only takes ten minutes, and you're not happy playing it just once.

After playing all of the games I ordered several weeks ago (BFH218, Snow Tails, Stone Age, Dominion, Yinsh and Ingenious), it is BFH218 that has given me the most enjoyment out of one session of play (in the case of BFH218, around ten plays, not counting the first few that we played incorrectly). As well, it's self-contained in a box not much bigger than my cell phone. I see no reason why this game won't be carried around in my bookbag wherever I go now, and I hope I can spread the love for this excellent little gem."

Review: Defenders of the Realm:: If you like coop or fantasy than I may have found a game for you

2010-06-21T13:03:00.002-07:00

Review: Defenders of the Realm:: If you like coop or fantasy than I may have found a game for you: "

by StyxParadox

Well, I wanted to be the first to review Richard Launius' new game Defenders of the Realm, but Mark Sautman’s excellent initial review here beat me to it. This review will be no where near as well written but I feel strongly about the game so I must write a review. I did not play the first game but I did play the game twice on Saturday at the Atlanta Game Fest. Also, Sphere stated how he liked Marks’ review because 'So many such early reports tend to gush; it's far more useful to hear what sounds like a very objective assessment.' Unlike Mark’s review, this review will gush and will not be a very objective assessment.

Since this is going to be a very subjective review let me start by listing the games that I had played that day before playing Defenders of the Realm: (Roma, Die Macher, Catacombs) All three of these games I enjoyed equally. So, I am a gamer that likes all different types of games. All three of the games above I enjoyed but I would not want to play them again right away. After playing Defenders of the Realm, I wanted to play it again. After playing it a second time, I was ready to play it again. When I had to leave at night I was still thinking about the game and what I would do differently the next time I played it.

This is the same feeling that I got after playing Pandemic for the first time. Which makes sense because this game borrows heavily from Pandemic. But, instead of stopping the spread of blue cube virus you are stopping the spread of Dragonkin and their dragon general Sapphire.

So, as you can see the game pieces look great. As Sapphire moves closer and closer to your home you feel the stress of the game coming to an end. And like Pandemic there seems to be more going on than you can possibly handle. The land is getting corrupted, the orcs and other minions are multiplying like flies, Sapphire and other generals are marching to destroy your home and no player seems to be getting the supplies they need to defeat the on coming threat. This game does what a good coop game should do but it does it with style. I believe this game pulls off the coop mechanic and the fantasy theme very well.

I grew up reading Lord of the Rings and other fantasy books. This game gave me the feeling of an epic fantasy battle, more so than when I played War of the Ring. It also reminds me of fighting against the near impossible like Ghost Stories. The game includes individual quests which can lead a player to do what is good for his character and not what is good for the team. Completing a quest will give the player an ability that could help the team but too much concentration on side quests will cause the group the loose the game.

One of the finer points of the game is in how the team must cooperate in defeating the generals that are coming to destroy the home territory. 2-4 players must fight together to defeat a leader and more likely all 4 players are needed depending on what cards they have. I saw leaders fend of 2 to 3 heroes with little trouble. So, this is a coop game where you cannot just each go off and handle different threats but you also must come together and fight the 4 generals. Think pandemic but all players need to return to Atlanta to cure a disease.

So, what are my recommendations? If you don’t like coop games and you don’t like fantasy games then avoid this like the plague. If you like either than you should play this game. If you like both then this is a must buy for you. Like I said, I believe this game pulls off the coop mechanic and the fantasy theme very well. One last thing, if you like a game that gets updated with expansions then you are looking at the right game. This game already has announced expansions and based on the designer I feel confident there will be more expansions.

"

Review: Thunderstone:: I'm not an adventurer, I'm a Dungeon crawl Project Manager

2010-06-21T13:03:00.001-07:00

Review: Thunderstone:: I'm not an adventurer, I'm a Dungeon crawl Project Manager: "

by krechevskoy

I followed Thunderstone pretty heavily when it was first announced. Heck after playing dominion I tried to make my own dungeon crawl using a mix using a mix of the Dominion deck cycling system and a secondary draw/play pile similar to how Odin's Ravens works. But now I don't have to because we have Thunderstone. And my idea now sits dormant in a shoebox on my game shelf. I also wanted to get quite a few games under my belt before reviewing it.

Also for the obligatory Dominion comparrison, just because Thunderstone has a similar deck building mechanic I would not put it in the same class as Dominion. To do such would be saying Monopoly is similar to D+D because they both deal with dice rolls. It is just not the case.

Overall Feel:

I've said this before in a geeklist and it is true to the game. I don't feel like an adventurer as much as I do a PM for an adventuring party to get the Thunderstone. When I am playing I do actually feel like my characters are fighting things, but there is no surprise, except for making a bet on a character that has a possibility of drawing cards. By the time its my turn I pretty much know what the turn outcome is going to be. There is not much in the way of surprises, except for a few cards forcing discards or allowing for conditional draws. I have also learned the card values, icons, and placements to where it is not even remotely considered to be or remembered as a problem.

What I like:

+ I like the card quality. For a game with lots of shuffling and moving around of cards. I like material of the cards.

+ I enjoy the subtle card synergies in the game that make the deckbuilding feel like actual deck building and not that I am burdening my hand with useless cards.

+ The game is somewhat modular. If I want a shorter game I use a monster pile of 10 cards. If I want a certain type of hero for the monster I picked I can add them. If I want to go against convention and add more piles to the village there is nothing stopping me.

+ There are rules for a single player variant, which adds to the point above

+ I enjoy the choices I can make and am forced to make during combat. For example, I can beat said monster but I won't because I do not want to lose one of my high level fighters in combat.

+ Even though leveling a character just puts them into my deck it feels satisfying and like a small accomplishment, the same goes with defeating a monster.

What I didn't like:

- Why do spells get the free ride of not requiring a hero? It feels silly to have no heroes in your hand and pull off shooting a fireball but yet not be able to wield a dagger. Yes is helps the player but it would make it seem more effective if you had a wizard or warlock in hand.

- The box and storage setup is horrible, the dividers are not really worth their salt and setup and takedown take longer than they should because of it. Would be nice if there was a better way to separate monsters/heroes/village cards/etc. You will need to do something homegrown until the expansion and probably after the expansion comes out. Especially when games themselves can run a little long.

What I wish was in the game:

- Cannot use/make your own cards. Even with the dividers you can't make a wild card to use your own ideas. I have resorted to using existing cards to represent made up cards for house rules. For example, “Saying in this game Lantern = Backpack, cost =6, Gold=0” (Backpack allows a player to draw 1 more card and keep the card if they are an item or weapon cards). Anyways I'm straying to variants but it is frustrating for us rules and mechanics tinkerers.

- More of a Texas hold'em “surprise” portion to the deck. Either by not knowing the next 2 cards in your hand or a possible draw. My most fun battles are when I have a character that has additional draw cards capabilities and betting against if I will pull a hero/weapon/spell with that next draw to defeat the monster in the dungeon.

Thunderstone is a very solid game where I feel more empowered in my deckbuilding but less tactical in my immediate hand. It is either I use everything in my hand or I don't. The setup and cleanup is one of the only stymies of the actual gameplay. But it is worth it and with some effort on my part I can even get my casual gameplaying friends to enjoy it. If you have not played Thunderstone, it is time to give it a shot.

"

Review: Runewars:: Runewars, or how we became dwellers of Terrinoth

2010-06-21T13:03:00.000-07:00

Review: Runewars:: Runewars, or how we became dwellers of Terrinoth: "

by brunogaia

Disclaimer minus 1 : Let there be known that I’m in no way affiliated to FFG and don’t know the designer of this game (being French and a teacher, I’m above any suspicion anyway ;) I also like to think of myself as someone who is not prone to fanboyism (not TOO much at least)

Disclaimer 0: Reviewed after 5 games (six if you count the first “tutorial” game (see below)). Further editing could therefore occur after more games, for we’ll definitely HAVE more!

Disclaimer 1: first part (from here until disclaimer 2) is an explanation of my partner’s tastes and mine which, I think, may help people using this review in order to decide if they want to buy the game for themselves (or not…)

First of all it seems appropriate to say that I’ve only ever played Runewars as a two player game, with my girlfriend. It also seems important to notice that my girlfriend is a fan of all things medieval-fantastic in games, preferring them rather than sci-fi or any other genre. Therefore, SHE’s the one who got interested in Runewars first when she saw it appear on my screen as a new game soon to be released (on BGG). Also important to say is the fact that my girlfriend loves minis and her all time favourite game is Battlelore (used to be?).

Now about me: I consider myself a hardcore Eurogamer, basically loathing too much randomness in games. As I’ve also started to design my own games (I’m currently working on a big coop card game with 420 cards) I’ve been able to figure out that I always try to reduce randomness to the absolute minimum while trying to keep the fun factor.

As it is I’m a great fan of Dungeon Twister (which COULD be described as thematic chess!).

The games we play most with my girlfriend (I only expose this part of my gaming life as the rest is irrelevant, 4-5 players games occurring only two or three times at my place, whereas we play three to four times A WEEK together!) are (at the moment) RFTG, Neuroshima Hex, Small World, Thunderstone, Ghost Stories and… Runewars from now on.

Disclaimer 2: as a rule I tend not to bore people to death repeating details about components and mechanics that have been posted ten or fifteen times already! Plus a very nice PDF of the rules is available here on BGG (That helps A LOT when you’re pondering over buying an expensive game or not!)

All right, now to the point. I’ll try to summarize my experience of the game in a few entries, the order of which will ceratinly seem to be totally random :D !

1) Opening the box: WOW!

I tell you: when you open this box you’re 7 years old again and it’s your birthday! I’m 34 and I instantly fell in love with the HUGE amount of minis and really nice board pieces. I even liked the plastic mountains!

The faction “sheets” (where you have your resources dials) have magnificent and pretty immersive artwork. The cards are nicely illustrated (most of them at least) and the rule cointains a lot of great flavor drawings

Really great components! Especially when you get to counting the number of molds involved (therefore the number of DIFFERENT types of units) : more than 30.

That beats the crap out of many games pretending to be “nice components galore” big boxes!

2) Discovering the game: the worst teaching/learning session ever!

I had read the rules extensively before we had our first game and I had also tried to actually learn the basics by heart, for I suspected the fact that it would be hard to try it for the first time.

The rules are EXTREMELY well written and, as it turns out after just one game, extremely smooth and simple BUT there are just SO MANY things to remember that I’ll NEVER EVER try to teach Runewars again to someone who has not read (and reread) the rules before!

That’s why I do not count our first game in the five games I said we had before this review! The very first “tutorial” game was really hellish. At some point I was even wondering if we’d ever play this game again. My girlfriend seemed bored to death. It’s just sheer luck that the second half of that first game was eventful enough to make us want to play again (and we surely were lucky there, for there was pleasure to be had after that first game!)

3) Randomness that leads to tensed games 4 times out of 5?! You must be joking!

Nay, I’m not!

Of course anyone can spot the randomness in Runewars just after he/she has read the rules.

All of its randomness is “card-driven”, meaning that any result involving randomness will involve picking a few “fate cards”, no dice; cards that carry a lot of symbols an allow you to deal with nearly anything from diplomacy to battles and quests.

Another source of randomness is the use of the season cards. As it is, a game of Runewars is divided into 6 years, each of them sub-divided into 4 seasons and at the beginninof each season, a card is picked and an effect that can be quite drastic applies.

So you’d expect that a game like that would often lead to crushing victories, especially in two player games where there’s no way to escape a bad beat by hoping one opponent will save you in order to help himself against the supposed leader!

Anyway, it might truly sound like magic but this game is balanced in such a way and has been playtested so thoroughly that in 5 games, 4 of them were tense until the last year (of six)! Actually 3 games were “concluded” during the last autumn and one during the very last winter (1 turn out of 24!!) Only one got concluded sooner and that was at the end of the fifth year!

Crazy and sooo rewarding, because what it does mean is that during all these games we had ups and downs but never felt like the game was lost long before the end of the game. Or, to be more precise, it sometimes felt like the issue was already decided but soon enough, a new movement would make the supposed loser take the upper hand again.

It makes you want to post sessions on BGG every time you play! So many events, big battles, heroes feats… I really feels like a story sometimes BECAUSE of the tension and the fact that nothing ever won or lost until the game actually ends.

4) A game of conquest, political influence AND adventure

I’ve heard somewhere that Runewars did a lot of things and did none of them right. I totally disagree! It’s true that if you thought that the “questing heroes” part of the game would be like having good old RPG you’ll be disappointed for it’s just skills testing and movement and sometimes dueling by using your hard-acquired weaponry, but… I mean… Let’s be honest: are there a LOT of board games out there that actually feel like good old RPG?

I’ve mastered RPGs for more than ten years, I know what I’m talking about, my players used to beg me for more every DAY! They still do years after I’ve quit doing it (principally because proper mastering is sooo time-consuming when you’re a grown-up for good… )

I my opinion, Runewars allows you, even obliges you to try to win your game by using ALL THE MEANS at your disposal: conquest, questing, and political influence. And I do think that it’s where the tension lies!

While your opponent might be throwing all his strength (and attention) on battles, he may underestimate the political scene or forget to try to tackle a hero of yours who’s bringing back shards (pieces of Dragon Runes, the said Runes being the victory points) after shards to his master!

All in all, my experience is that the amount of choice at a given time is pretty enormous when you really try to see them all. It often lead to having us excusing ourselves AT THE SAME TIME for the time we were taking in order to take the proper decision.

I also read a review where someone said Runewars lacked choices and now that I’ve played it some more I can’t believe one could write such nonsense. As I explained previously, I’ve played a lot of games, mainly euros, and in all honesty, Runewars would come to my mind in the top five when it comes to choices, TENSED choices being made in a single game!

Of course, realizing the amount of choice and the true importance of every decision needs a little investment, especially really taking time to understand how battles work and how to make your army work best.

Now play the elves without aligning bowmen by conquering areas rich in woods and you’ll be whining that the elves are poorly balanced. Worse: play the undead without throwing all the necromancers you’ve got in the battle to raise more reanimates and you’ll surely feel ripped off and never play the undead again.

Runewars NEEDS some thinking before, during and after each action. I think it also needs some long-term strategy to give you a chance of winning.

At least it’s both our opinions and experiences so far!

5) The feeling of the epic, even when you DON’T play the epic variant!

Because of our gaming habits, we’ve never play the epic (longer) variant included in the rules. As it is a game of Runewars would take us 2hours and a half to slightly more than 3 hours to complete. And it would definitely leave us with the feeling that something really epic had occurred!

6) Is it the perfect game?

I gave it a ten because I think that the brilliantly wrapped theme (artwork and components included), nice mechanics and excellent tension deserved the maximum mark.

Do I really think it’s perfect? In a way, yes, for NOW I do.

It’s exactly what I wanted it to be, and much more.

In another way I can already say that, NO, it’s not perfect. Of course!

It has many, MANY qualities and is HUGE fun to play but you can still feel the great amount of randomness and that could put some people off.

It should have put ME off indeed. But it didn’t.

Apart from good ole’ Space Hulk, it’s the only so-called “ameritrash” game I have in my collection and, honestly, from now on, I’ll think twice before ruling out a game because one of its tag words is dice-rolling or it looks a bit “too thematic and American” to be honest!

7) As a conclusion

As it’s one of the meatiest games I have, and definitely is tending to become one of OUR favorites, I’ll surely make the effort of editing this review after ten games and after fifteen. Especially since that’s when you realize if it will or won’t be the kind of game you can play again and again and AGAIN (like, for us, RFTG, Small World, Neuroshima Hex, etc)

Anyway It’s also true that anyone who will like this game will surely be expecting nice, meaty expansions to come soon with more heroes (there could have been three more in the base game, just a thought), new races and new pieces of modular board and… Well, basically everything Corey has not put in it YET.

But the goddess knows he has put a LOT in it already!

I’ll also conclude by saying that you should definitely read the rules and reviews before you buy it. It’s expensive, worth its price but still expensive. And I don’t think it’ could fit all tastes at all.

But what is sure, is that it was to MY taste (and my girlfriend’s taste too) and, honestly… Well, it’s a great experience being dwellers of Terrinoth!

"

Tropic Euro: Online Re-themed Puerto Rico

2010-06-21T13:02:00.001-07:00

Tropic Euro: Online Re-themed Puerto Rico: "

Chris Gibbs writes to tell me about Tropic Euro, his version of online Puerto Rico, but with a slight re-theme. The time period, such as it is, is moved up to the 1940s. Colonists (aka slaves) are now tools, there are some different plantation, role, and building names, and there are a few other cosmetic changes.

In addition, he switched University and Factory costs, supports two-player and the PR expansion, and has plans to make additional improvements. You can play against AIs, too. Some of the code is based on the phial code; CURL not required, but Java is.

Review: Mystery of the Abbey:: Have you seen Novice Guy?

2010-06-21T13:02:00.000-07:00

Review: Mystery of the Abbey:: Have you seen Novice Guy?: "

by blinks

Three to six players, best with four or five.

About an hour and a half to play, almost always casual, lots of logic and psychology.

I haven't been able to play Clue for a long time. My friends stopped wanting to play with me after I developed my system of notating information that turned it into an extended logic game -- the only way they could win was with a lucky guess. (Mastermind is also totally ruined.) Days of Wonder has come out with several Clue-likes recently (see also Mystery Express), though, and they're all full of mechanics that mess with my pure-logic system, so I figured I'd check it out. I was not disappointed.

If you've played Clue, you'll understand Abbey. There was a murder, the culprit is represented by a card (hidden under the board in this case, instead of an envelope), and the players get cards that cannot be the culprit (because they're not under the board). The game takes place over a series of rounds where you move around the board collecting clues, and the first person to guess the culprit [probably] wins.

There are several interesting differences there that I'll elaborate on. First, there's no weapon or place to determine, just the culprit. This means that all the clues in the game are people. Second, the first person to guess correctly only probably wins. A correct accusation gives four points, but revelations (where you guess one of the traits of the culprit, such as whether he has a beard) can score two points. Incorrect accusations also don't end the game for that player -- another person reveals that card, and the accuser loses two points and their next turn.

So far, it's still pure logic. I can pay attention to people's movement and cards, and determine precisely who has what. Abbey throws a wrench in all this with two great mechanics. First, when you meet another player in the Abbey (by moving to their location), you must ask them a question that they cannot answer with a card. That is, you cannot ask them to name a bearded monk, but you can ask them if 'Novice Guy' is in their hand (yes, an actual card). The questioned player isn't required to answer (they may take a 'Vow of Silence'), but if they choose to do so, they can ask a question that you must answer (with the same restrictions). This has several effects on strategy. You want to avoid players that you have lots of information about, because they'll get more from their question (which you must answer) than you will from yours (which you must ask). If questioned, you want to make sure you don't give too much information away (because you don't have to answer), but answering questions gives you an opening to force an answer.

The second mechanic is more frustrating (to me :shake. After every four turns (three if you're playing with six), the monks call mass by ringing a little bell (provided in the game). All players move back to the chapel, you get a random event, and then everyone chooses cards to pass to the person on their left. The first mass only makes you pass a single card, but that number increases 'til you're passing your whole hand. Because of this mechanic, it's impossible to know for sure what cards someone has after mass. Since it happens so often (four rounds is short), you lose a lot of the pure logic.

There's still a place for strategy, though. Abbey turns Clue into a true victory point game, where you get victory points through Accusations (the traditional method) and Revelations. The latter is important to remember, as two correct revelations is equivalent to the accusation that ends the game. Since a revelation must be positive (the culprit is bearded!), public, and can only be made once, it's useful to make them early and often, based on hunches. Of course, if you're playing against my psychic cousin Isak, you'll still lose when he accuses correctly only a few masses in -- I still think he was cheating.

If you're burnt out on Clue, but still like deductive reasoning games, Mystery of the Abbey is a great new game to try. I haven't even talked about the books in the library, the confessionals that give you a card from another player's hand, the random event where you all sing, or the questions that come up when people get silly (when's the last time you clipped your toenails? Answer me!), which make this a casual game to remember."

Review: Tannhäuser Revised Edition Rulebook:: Revising the rules for revising history

2010-06-21T13:01:00.002-07:00

Review: Tannhäuser Revised Edition Rulebook:: Revising the rules for revising history: "

by blark

(This is my first attempt at a review, so if it's rough around the edges you'll know why)

After a long time waiting, one of my favorite game concepts gets the rules revision that it so desperately needed. When Tannhäuser was first translated and brought to American shelves by Fantasy Flight Games, it was clear that this was a brilliant concept for a skirmish game that could use some polishing. The translation of the rules was brutally unclear on a lot of concepts (how hand-to-hand combat worked, for instance). This lack of clarity made the game a bit frustrating for casual fans and newcomers to the game, but the die-hards looked past that at the world that had been created and all of the fantastic bits and elements of the game itself.

Last year FFG announced that they had acquired all of the rights to the game, and that a revision to the rules would be coming... The wait was long, but finally the 88 page tome of rules hit the internet and FLGS shelves. This full-color perfect-bound book is what it claims to be: a revision of the rules for core game and all of the expansions released to date. The graphic design keeps the same 'military briefing' styles that all the original rulebooks had, and incorporates the old artwork as well.

But down to the nitty-gritty, what's been fixed? The answer to that is 'a lot.' Most of the fixes come down to streamlining things and clarifying wording.

- Weapons now have fixed dice pools depending on their type (Hand-to-hand, Pistol, Automatic, etc). This makes remembering what to roll a lot easier, since it will be the same for either faction on the table.

- Revised character equipment just makes more sense. A lot of items now add an additional die to pools, or more clearly explains bonuses they grant during combat. A lot of the items have changed, but in ways that make more sense for the characters and the style of play for their factions.

- There are new modes of play. What was 'Story Mode' in the original rules has been re-termed 'Objective Mode' to show that there really is no story to these games, and giving it a better FPS feel. 'Story Mode' in the revision is the mode used for the scenarios that began coming out in the expansion rule books -- every scenario from the old rule books is here, even Wolf's. Other modes include classic FPS staples like 'Deathmatch,' 'Capture the Flag,' 'Domination,' and 'King of the Hill.'

- Victory Points are dead, long live Command Points! Another change to mechanics is the use of Command Points. Instead of collecting points over the course of a game for killing enemies or completing objectives, each side begins the game with a set number of Command Points that refresh at the beginning of every round. This balances the game a lot more, since the player with more kills will not also have an unfair point advantage for healing characters or additing to movement (or the other choices the points will let you do). Points can be gained through crates or items certain characters have available, but are only availble for use during one round of play. At the start of every round the Command Points refresh to the number dictated by the mode of play (2 for Death Match, for instance).

- Overwatch. This is perhaps the biggest change in the game, and something Space Hulk players will love. After Command Points refresh, each player has the choice to put characters on Overwatch for the cost of one CP each. These characters are now considered 'Activated' for the turn, and cannot be moved or act except in reaction to other characters on the board. An enemy that moves on the same path, adjascent to, or announces an action while on the same path (such as firing before moving, or a Metal duel), will be interrupted by the Overwatch character who has a chance to fire their weapon first. Most characters lose Overwatch as soon as they react, except the Shocktruppen (if he has his Combat pack). This can create some stalemates from time to time, but adds a bit more FPS 'realism' to the game (in the old rules it never made sense how a character would just stand there while their enemies moved all around them).

- A default dice pool has been added. For those times when the rules are unclear on how many dice to roll, the default is 4 dice. Unfortunately that rule should have been closer to the front, since it clarifies things that would come later, such as Mental duels and other tests. Just remember though, 'When in doubt, roll 4 dice.' Should save a lot of confusion for players later.

- Smoke from grenades goes away after a few rounds. This is a huge change, and I think help balance the game away from the Union a bit. When a smoke grenade is thrown now, you place the grenade token where the player wants it to land, and then place two smoke tokens on it. While under smoke, all characters are down two dice to all attack roles, and can only attack adjascent circles. During the refresh phase at the start of every round, remove one of the smoke tokens (or the grenade token if it's the only one left). When all have been removed, the smoke has dissipated and the penalties lift for that path (or paths). This keeps the board from being blocked up by Union players for the bulk of the game so that John MacNeil or Ramirez can snipe people with their alien goggles (as you can tell, I've been on the receiving end of this too often)

- Plus many others! There's more changes too, but I want to save some for you to discover in the book, should you be swayed enough to check it out.

What the book lacks are only a few things, but I think it's noticible, especially after taking the rules for a play.

- No handy reference chart. This should have been a natural for the book, but just wasn't there. One page for the players to see weapon dice pools at a glance, or the default dice pool reminder, or basic breakdowns on how grenades work, etc. Obviously it's easy enough to make one myself, but it seems like it should be there already (on the back cover of the book would have been the best place).

- More scenarious would have been nice. Since the scenarios printed are from the expansion figures and Novgorod, they mostly take place on the Novgorod board. This is all well and good, except for those players who only own the core set and none of the special tokens that came with the expansions (as I'm still lacking Wolf, this made the first scenario useless to me, though it looks fun). It seems to me that they could have stuck a few scenarios based around what's in the core game box itself easily so that people can play Story Mode right out of the box when it starts to ship with the new rule book.

- A few minor things still aren't clear. Like throwing a grenade into smoke. Hopefully the answers will come quick from FFG though. It's nothing like the unclear rules from the original rule book though, so don't worry.

- More background on the Tannhäuser world. This book is mostly rules, with very little fluff. As a revision of the rules for a game folks know, this is great. But when the book is in the core game set, it's going to have very little about the alternate history that the game is set in, and that's a bit sad. I'd have liked a timeline or just some themed 'memo' across a page for 'new recruits' reminding them what they're fighting for. Again, it's a bit nit-picky, but would have been nice to see.

All in all, I think this is a fantastic revision to the game, and worth the $5 or $10 (for PDF of physical version) investment to bring out the true shine in this game. I bought two copies it so that either player can have a copy to reference during the game and to speed things up a bit.

I give the revision a solid 9 out of 10."