B17..Get it here!! The amazing solo boardgame B17 Queen of the Skies on your PC..for free.. This is a great little time k...
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B17 PC Emulator here
Battle Brothers, from Overhype Studios, is a game which, upon playing for the first time, my immediate reaction was to wonder how in the...
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Early Access Preview: Battle Brothers
Battle Brothers, from Overhype Studios, is a game which, upon playing for the first time, my immediate reaction was to wonder how in the world no one had made a game quite like this before. It can somewhat be described as a mash-up of concepts from games like Mount and Blade, Darkest Dungeon, X-COM, and Final Fantasy Tactics. If that gets your attention, by all means go buy the game right now, because you will love it. Come back and read this while it downloads.
The game puts you in command of what's left of a company of mercenaries, immediately following the death of your captain and most of your fellow mercenaries in an ambush. You start off with three decently equipped soldiers and a limited supply of funds. You then set out to make your way in a randomly generated world full of opportunities. Movement on the campaign map is very much like that of Mount and Blade, with your company represented by an icon traveling the world and encountering other groups of people, be they trade caravans, peasants, or bandits. Combat takes place in turn-based battles on a hex-based grid. I'll save a more detailed description of the gameplay for my review when the game is closer to release (there is one last big patch coming before then). Today I simply wish the regale you with the tale of my first campaign.
Battle Brothers uses the "Busts of soldiers bumping into each other" art style. Which works nicely here. |
Following the previously mentioned ambush and near annihilation of the Battle Brothers mercenary company, the survivors resolved to rebuild and hunt down the murderous bandits. Unfortunately, the only volunteers willing to join our force were a couple of bored villagers, the town drunk, and a vagrant or two. Fortunately, these men came cheap, leaving me with enough money to buy them some gear. Even a stone-cold mercenary captain can't send men into battle wearing tattered rags and wielding wooden sticks. He can't have his investments *ahem* loyal soldiers cut down in a single blow.
We had to travel to a larger village down the road to find better weapons for the men. This gave me time to get to know them better. Each man had a story to tell. Some were simply bored with the life of a peasant, feeling they were destined to travel the world and do something greater. Others were down on their luck after repeated misfortunes, and saw joining a company of mercenaries as a chance to climb out of the gutter. I sympathized with their tales, but, honestly, I needed warm bodies to fill the ranks and they were the best I could afford.
What happens when you bump into an orc raiding party before you are ready. |
After assembling all the men and equipment I could afford with my starting funds, I returned to our previous employer who sent the company after those bandits in the first place. He would pay good money to have the bandit leader killed once and for all, and knew where the scumbag was hiding.
My rag-tag band tracked the bandits to their camp and moved in for battle. The ensuing chaos was almost too much for my untrained soldiers, but with superior numbers we were able to overwhelm the bandits and take out the leader. Sadly, he was able to cut down one of the original members of the company in the melee. Another man, the beggar from the village, was wounded so badly that he would never be the same with a sword or spear, but I still needed him in my fighting line until I could hire a replacement. Regardless, victory was ours, as well as the loot and payment that came with it. With these new funds I was able to hire and equip a couple of new men. I also treated the company to a round of drinks at the tavern to lift their spirits.
We were still a pitiful looking rabble, but we were able to find work escorting a convoy on a journey that would take a few days. I negotiated with the caravan master for some funds up front, and used that restock our food and medicine supplies. Along the way we were attacked by some roaming highway men, but came out victorious once again, though battered and bloodied by the fighting. After reaching our destination and getting paid, I decided to let the men rest for a couple of days. I also picked up a few more pieces of gear, including some real armor. Well, leather armor. Chainmail and plate was far beyond our current budget.
The world map of Battle Brothers will be familiar to anyone who has played Mount and Blade. |
Once everyone was healed up, we took another contract escorting a caravan back towards where we started out. This time there were no bandits. We were still paid in full, despite only marching for a few days. Now that's my kind of work. This pattern continued for a couple of weeks. Escorting caravans and tracking down thieves. Despite humble beginnings, my company was starting to come together. Most of the soldiers now had real weapons and armor, and some were becoming much more proficient at combat. I had also lost a couple of soldiers here and there, but each town along the road had its share of desperate men looking to join for one reason or another. Overall, things were looking good. My over-confidence would be my downfall.
Having gained a small reputation, we were offered a lucrative contract by a local lord. He wished us to go on a lengthy patrol of the roads to several nearby towns. We would be paid a moderate amount for this, but, more importantly, would also be paid a bonus for each bandit head taken along the way. The men buzzed at the thought of slaying every bandit we could find along the roads.
The first leg of the patrol was uneventful. Not a bandit in sight. Myself and the men were disappointed. Our payday would hardly cover our travel expenses if the rest of the patrol went like this. Little did we know we were about to walk into the hornet's nest.
Our maps showed most of the surrounding area, but one uncharted region lay between us and our next destination. No matter, we were a company of killers at this point, and no bandit mob would be able to take us. Venturing into the unknown, we finally stumbled across some bandits. It was a small group, no match for the dozen men now under my command. We struck them down and moved on, looking for more victims. Another group appeared, slightly larger than the last. We fought a good fight and wiped them out, suffering only a few injuries. The men were giddy at the thought of the ever growing payment we would receive in a few days.
Yet another group of bandits appeared, just a handful, and we swooped in. To our shock, these bandits were not the usual mangy lot, they were real fighters and carried real weapons. This proved a tough fight, despite our 2:1 advantage in numbers. A couple of my men fell in the fighting, and more were wounded. We survived though, and could carry on. A little further and we would be out of this wild area. Then we saw it. An abandoned fortress turned into a bandit stronghold. That must have been where all the bandits were coming from. The lord who hired us would want to know about this.
Just before we cleared the uncharted area and made it to safety, another bandit party found us. This one was almost as large as our force, and was as well equipped as the last group we fought. We had to run, contract or not. Unfortunately, we could not run fast enough. The group caught us and surrounded my company in a forest. Attacked from all sides and hemmed in by trees, the men were unable to support one another. They fought valiantly, but were cut down one by one. In the end, every man on each side was dead or dying, save two. The last surviving member of my original company was still standing, a crossbowman who had saved the day more than once. With his last crossbow bolt he had cut down an axe-wielding bandit, but his luck ran out as another bandit rushed forward through the mangled corpses. My soldier pulled out his knife, all he had left to fight with, and stabbed uselessly at his well armored foe. Seconds later he was slain. My mercenary company was completely wiped out, just like that.
Battle Brothers promises to be one of the best strategy games coming out this year. It's got a bit of RPG, a bit of team management, and lot of tactical combat. The full game promises to have world shaping events and quests for your mercenary company to participate in, but the game is already a massive success in my eyes simply based on the core mechanics. It very much captures that feeling of freedom and choice that you get in Mount and Blade. Traveling around from village to village, recruiting men, buying equipment and supplies, ultimately creating a deadly fighting force. Except here it's done even better. Every soldier has a back story and individual stats, as well as special traits. Almost everything in the game uses procedural generation, but it doesn't feel like it.
I did not know very much about this game going in, having simply not seen it mentioned anywhere. However, I was completely blown away by my initial experiences. The game is still in early access, but is completely playable and feels very polished. Once it comes out the price will go up, so if you think you would like it at all I seriously recommend picking it up now.
Look for my full review in the next few weeks!
- Joe Beard
Follow us on Twitter @_AWNT_
Vikings At War By Kim Hjardar and Vegard Vike What a cast Viking history has: Ragnar, Ivar the Boneless, Cnut, Harold...
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Vikings At War by Kim Hjardar and Vegard Vike
The Oseberg longship |
Sovereignty: Crown of Kings, published by Slitherine and developed by The Lordz Game Studio, is an interesting new take on the grand s...
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Sovereignty: Crown of Kings
Sovereignty: Crown of Kings, published by Slitherine and developed by The Lordz Game Studio, is an interesting new take on the grand strategy genre. If a fantasy version of Europa Universalis with hex-and-counter tactical combat sounds like something you might enjoy, come see what this title has to offer.
Sovereignty is a fascinating mix of ideas that I have not seen put together quite this way in any other game out there. The game takes place in a well developed fantasy world where 35(!) unique realms are available for the player to choose from. You take the lead of one of these realms and attempt to achieve a specific set of objectives. Your options as leader include engaging in diplomacy, managing the economy, developing spells, and of course building armies and taking them to the battlefield. I'll explore all of these in detail separately later.
Sovereignty takes place in a detailed and complex fantasy world. |
The first thing you will realize when trying to decide on a realm to play is that each one has a fairly detailed back story, and that many of them are interlinked. By reading these different backstories you can get a feel for the world. There are two major human empires rivaling for power in the south, orc realms threatening on the borders, and various flavors of elves that are separated at the start, but can seek reunification. There are also human barbarian tribes in the north, a colony of pirates in the south, and swamp full of undead in the middle. There is certainly something for everyone, and every realm has a different set of goals to pursue.
I found these unique goals to be one of the game's most interesting features. Unlike the open ended gameplay of most other 4X titles, here you begin each campaign with a specific set of objectives to achieve. For example, in my first (disastrous) campaign I played the High Elves of Sonneneve. Their goal is to form a powerful alliance with the other two elven realms, the Wood Elves and Dark Elves. These other elven realms are a fair distance away, have different alignments (realms can be good, evil, or neutral) and if either one is destroyed, you lose. So right out of the gate, I can see that diplomacy will be important for this campaign, as well as having a military force capable of getting me closer to those realms and aiding them in inevitable conflict. If you go play as those other elven realms, your objectives will be similar but distinctly different in one case, and completely different in the other.
Some of the especially unique victory conditions include searching for clues to a hidden treasure (the aforementioned pirate realm), capturing a bunch of prisoners (the ice realm of the Winter Witch), and taking complete control of the seas (an England-like island realm). There are trade focused campaigns, campaigns focused on specific political rivalries, and of course several that require simple conquest of particular provinces. You can also choose to play each realm with more generic objectives like conquering the entire world, or taking out a particular rival.
For my second, much more successful, campaign, I decided to be the Germanic barbarian themed Vessoi realm. Now my goal was to control the four "totems" so I could call the Horde to sweep across the land. I also had to ally with two of my northern neighbors. The twist here is that in order to control all of the totems, I would have to attack and conquer land from one of those neighbors, and use diplomacy to cozy up to the other, which was led by the isolationist and kinda spooky Winter Witch.
Once you have settled on a realm to play, the game begins. Gameplay is split between the strategic layer and the tactical combat layer, both being turn based. You spend your time between battles on the strategic layer, purchasing units and buildings, making trades, and moving armies around. When one of your armies encounters an enemy army, the combat takes place on a more detailed map using a hex-grid.
My soldiers form a line and await the undead hordes. |
First, let's talk about the strategic layer. In a world where Europa Universalis IV exists, any game that occupies the same niche is going up against some serious competition. I don't think there is any game development studio out there that is going to top the sort of excessive options and extreme detail found in a Paradox grand strategy game, so I won't fault Sovereignty for coming up short in a direct comparison. It's not that Sovereignty does a bad job of giving you information and options for how to shape your realm, but, overall, it can't help but feel a bit crude in the shadow of Europa Universalis IV. For example, every other realm has a relationship with you ranging from friend to enemy, but why the rating is what it is, and what variables are influencing it, is not readily apparent, compared with EU where you get a detailed breakdown of your relations and how they are changing over time.
Diplomacy and trade in Sovereignty is handled in a manner that will immediately be familiar to any experienced 4X gamer. Deals can be made for resources, gold, treaties, and so on. What makes Sovereignty a bit different is that you are limited by how many "agents" you have available for assignment. Several turns are required to complete trades with realms that are further away, and your agent cannot be used for anything else in that time. Some nations have several agents available and can constantly be wheeling and dealing, while others may have only a single agent to work with. In that case, you must try to make every exchange count, since these agents are also needed for spying and influencing diplomatic relations. I was pleased to find that the AI in Sovereignty was actually willing to make fair deals with me. Too often in other 4X games I don't even bother with negotiations, since the AI usually wants an arm and a leg for even the least valuable resources. Here you can usually expect to make a deal that is both reasonable and beneficial.
There are about a dozen or more resources like iron, gems, and beer to be found in Sovereignty, and acquiring access to them through trade or conquest is a critical part of the game. Any non-basic unit, and almost all province upgrades, require one or two of these resources to build. The resources are produced by specific provinces scattered across the map, which generate one unit of that resource per turn. This means that the amount of a given resource in the game world at any time is finite, making them quite valuable.
At the start of the game you will often only have direct access to a couple of the resources, and will need to acquire the others somehow. There are a few ways to do this. Negotiating for a couple units of iron is simple, but inefficient, since you will immediately use them up and need more. Going to war with a neighbor in order to conquer their resource producing provinces could be a lengthy and costly endeavor, but will get you unlimited access to that resource. The third option is something that should have been a great feature in the game, but currently feels incomplete: the stock market. The market lets you sell resources for cash, or buy resources that other realms have sold. The price of the resources is supposed to depend on supply and demand. Unfortunately, the market didn't seem to work quite like it should in theory. All prices are exactly the same at the start of the game, and in my experience playing they never budged one way or the other. On most of your turns there will only be one resource available to purchase, if any. This should be a lively and interesting part of the game, but in the current iteration it is not.
Besides specific resources, the most important part of your realm's economy is gold. You begin the game with a healthy income, and your primary expenses will be buying new units and paying maintenance on existing ones. There is little reason to stockpile cash on hand, so you will always want to keep your income-expense ratio pretty tight by building the biggest and best army you can afford. You can invest in upgrades to provinces to make them produce more, so you will want to keep that in mind while setting your budget as well. The more income you have, the bigger an army you can field.
Another important money sink is the magic system. Every realm has a set of spells available to them, but these spells must be earned over time by gathering research points. The points can be generated by specific provinces and buildings, and can be purchased each turn in exchange for gold, with the cost per point being different for each realm. Once you have enough points, you can either unlock a new spell, or open up a new tier of spells. This is the closest the game has to a tech tree, and while the options are somewhat limited, the spells available are quite useful. Some give you a strategic layer bonus of some sort, while others can upgrade a specific unit. Higher tier spells can make powerful, and sometimes permanent, changes to provinces and units. I really enjoyed this system, since every realm had a unique array of spells available, and there was always something useful to work towards.
The final way to spend your funds is the most fun, building an army. While diplomacy and trade are features of the game, make no mistake, you will need to have a large army in the field at almost all times. Units are broken down into six categories: infantry, irregulars, archers, cavalry, siege units, and naval units. Within each category you will have usually have two or three choices. The exceptions being naval units, which are not available at all to some realms, and siege units which usually have fewer options when available.
The unit production screen. This dwarven realm has a lot of infantry options, but no cavalry. |
Now, you might be thinking that only a couple of options for infantry and cavalry sounds limited, but this is another area where the game offers a ton of variety between its 35 realms. While some units in different realms may share the same art, they all have unique names and stats. In addition to their stats, many units have attributes which further shape their role on the battlefield. Some can move across difficult terrain types with ease, others can resist cavalry charges, some strike fear into enemy units, while others can offer a morale boost to the entire army, or give you a scouting bonus on the strategic map. There are a ton of different attributes in the game, and individual units can even gain more as they survive battles and level up. The armies of most realms have some kind of theme, and these attributes go along with it. The better units require specific resources, as mentioned previously. At the start of the game you have access to all of your possible units, but not the resources needed to build them.
One thing that disappointed me about the units was that they have no accompanying description or flavor text. There is a box for it on the unit purchase screen, but for every unit it is either blank or contains a quote from a real world historical figure like Sun-Tzu or Otto von Bismark. It's a bit odd that these descriptions are absent, since there was clearly a lot of effort put into giving each army a distinct style and interesting units. A user mod on the Steam Workshop is available to rectify this, but I would prefer official descriptions.
In addition to regular units, you can recruit heroes to lead your forces. These heroes do not appear in the battle, but instead give you one-shot abilities that can be used to turn the tide in your favor. As your heroes lead battles, they can level up, at which point you get to choose a new ability for their arsenal. There is a lot of variety in these abilities. Since you can only use each one once per battle, you will want to time it carefully to maximize the effect. This adds an interesting wrinkle or two to each fight, and makes your individual armies feel more distinct, even if they contain the same list of units.
That covers all of the elements of the strategic layer, so let's take a look at what happens when two armies collide. You are first given the option to fight it out manually or auto-resolve. I really liked the auto-resolve feature in Sovereignty compared to games like Total War. Instead of simply clicking and getting a result, here the auto-resolve is broken into three phases, offering you multiple chances to retreat or press the fight. There is also more suspense, as you watch the unit icons smack each other around one at a time until one side retreats or is annihilated.
In most cases though, the best result will be gained by taking direct control of your forces. This option takes you to the tactical battlefield, where all the abilities discussed before come into play as you maneuver units around a hex-based grid depicting the local province. This phase of the game handles much like Panzer General and similar titles, so will be easy to jump into for most strategy gamers. I found this portion of the game to be surprisingly good. It offers a light wargame feel where the unique attributes of your various units really shine. Terrain plays a major role in the battles, and the home team will often have some kind of advantage in this regard. Attacking across a river can be especially tricky. Common sense tactics, like forming a solid line of infantry backed by archers, will give your forces the edge. Cavalry must have flat ground and open attack lanes to fully maximize their charges, which are more powerful the further away they start from the target. Archers can deal a lot of damage at range, but are helpless if melee units reach them. You will want to keep units alive, since they can level up and gain better stats or special abilities. These experienced units can make short work of freshly recruited foes later in the game.
While the early game battles feature mostly standard units slugging it out, the fighting only get more interesting as more exotic options become available. You are limited to four each of your "elite" units, and they can take many turns to build, but once you get them on the field they really light things up. In my Vessoi campaign I was always excited to get my Shapeshifters (think werewolves) into the action, where they made mince meat of most foes. Other higher tier units include dragons, unicorns, walking trees, undead nightmare creatures, and all sorts of other fantasy genre highlights.
The primary downside here is that the AI is not the best. Every battle involves the attacker trying to occupy two or three cities while the defender holds them off for X turns. A human player can often trick the AI into maneuvering its forces poorly, and either seizing the objectives when attacking or distracting the AI long enough to run out the clock when defending. This assuming your forces aren't strong enough to simply crush the AI army in direct battle. That isn't to say I won every battle against the AI, because I certainly got my rear end handed to me a few times.
So, between all of these interesting pieces, how does the whole stack up? For me, the game somewhat remains a diamond in the rough, even after almost two years in early access. There are a lot of things here I really like, and I love the concept of the game. However, it still feels not quite finished in some ways, as I mentioned earlier. There are reports of bugs from other players, and I experienced a few myself. I also found that the UI was at times clunky, with one open window covering another, or not displaying the information I expected it to display as I moused over various parts of the screen.
Despite those issues, I do really like what The Lordz Game Studio is doing here. The game is a one of a kind experience, letting you jump into something like a basic version of Europa Universalis set in a fantasy world of dwarves and orcs and elves. Unlike EU, here you get to take direct control of your forces in battle and lead them to victory or defeat, instead of watching some numbers tick as the invisible dice roll. While there are other fantasy 4X's out there, none offer such a detailed and ready made world to explore. The world of Sovereignty feels like it has history, and the events that unfold during the game add to that story. Every time I started a new campaign I was confronted with a very different set of circumstances, and few games can make that claim. Fewer still can do so while offering thirty-five different choices of nations to lead. Considering the game's very reasonable price of $25, I think anyone interested in a strategy game with a fresh take on things should give it a shot. With a touch more polish and elbow grease, this game could rise above it's current shortcomings and become a great game that stands alone in style and substance.
Joe Beard
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Sovereignty: Crown of Kings is available directly from Matrix Games/Slitherine, and on Steam.
Zama Hannibal vs Scipio Folio Game From Decision Games Ah, a folio game. I think the first time I purchased and pl...
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Zama Hannibal vs Scipio Folio Game From Decision Games
The counters are also standard fare for these types of games. They seem a bit thinner than I remember, but perfectly useful for their purpose. You will need to cut your small cardboard armies out, and if you are so inclined cut away some of the extra cardboard from some corners. I never felt the need in any game I own, but I know a lot of people also clip the counter corners. To each their own. The graphics on the counters are also fine, but not striking. You can easily see the numbers and read anything written on them without a problem. The Romans and allies have a red background, and the various Carthaginian forces have a purple one. The one point on the counters that is purely subjective is the strength and quality of each unit. The Leader units add a 'strength additive' number to any unit they are with in a hex. In this game Hannibal is given a '3' and Scipio is given a '2'. There are many, although I am not among them, who believe that Scipio was the greatest Roman general ever. I do not have a problem having Hannibal have a higher combat rating than Scipio. This shows the versatility of board games. If you choose you can change the numbers to what you believe is correct. You could even make your own counters and substitute them for what you, or whoever you game with, feel should be more 'correct' numbers. While some computer games have editors that can help with these changes, most don't and you are stuck with developers' ratings on units and leaders.
Game setup |
The game piece setup in this game is again standard for ancient warfare games. Most battles were fought on flat ground, so many times terrain wasn't an issue at all. With Zama, the entire battlefield is made up of 'clear' hexes. The map is marked with where you are supposed to put your counters for each side. There are rules for variable deployment so you can try out different strategies once you get the game rules down pat. Another few rules are in place to make the Carthaginian player follow Hannibal's game plan. One of these is to force your elephants to move, on turn one, into a Roman piece's 'zone of control', or adjacent to a Roman piece. Any elephant counter that does not do this is considered to have run amok and is eliminated. The other rules make it so the different commands of Hannibal's army are released to attack the Romans at different times. So the second and third line of Hannibal's troops can only move once a Roman piece moves to 'X' hex line. Hannibal's plan was to try and tire the Romans out by attacking them in waves. These rules are put in place to show how the actual battle was fought, but again once you are comfortable with the game it is flexible enough for you to use free movement for all of the Carthaginian troops. The Romans have no movement restrictions placed on their troops. There is also another ancient wargame standard, 'the berserk elephant rule'. Elephants were notorious for being both battle winners and losers. If the elephant unit receives a retreat or a hit (1/2) on the combat results table it becomes berserk and immediately charges off in any of six directions, decided by a die throw, and attacks whatever is in its way, friend or foe.
Carthaginian first turn elephant attack |
The command and control rules are meant to simulate the problems of commanding an ancient army in battle. The troops are split into sub-commands for this rule and each sub-command must make a one die roll throw for each movement phase. If they are successful with the die roll, that sub-command can move that turn. There are four sub-commands for the Romans, and five for the Carthaginians. For example, the Roman citizen legions have to roll from a one to a five to be able to move that turn; if they roll a six they are unable to move. This also puts the element of surprise into the game. There is nothing worse that coming up with a great battle plan and then realize you cannot follow it because your troops are not in control this turn. The game uses another old friend to compute losers and winners in attacks: the 'combat result table'. By simply adding up the attackers points and the defenders, while adding or subtracting for leaders etc., you divide the numbers and come up with a number for the odds of the combat. If you have 8 attacking points and 4 defending, the odds would be 2-1. You check the 'combat results table' on the equivalent column and then roll one die. The one to six result is then taken on the counters. I know most of us are old hats at this, but we need new blood in the hobby. We as grogs are getting older by the day. These folio games are perfect in their complexity, price, and size to attract new players to our hobby. We don't want them running away by pulling out an old 'Europa' game first off.
The game play is quick and tight, and the rules are not going to have you scratching your head. For us old players it is a trip down memory lane with a well conceived old friend. For anyone that is looking to get their feet wet into board wargames it is also highly recommended. There are many eras and wars that fall through the cracks of computer wargaming, so it is lucky for us that there are still companies like Decision Games making board ones. if you missed it, board wargaming has been having a resurgence lately, and that is also good news.
There is one point about the Carthaginian setup that I had Decision Games answer a question of mine with it. On the map there are three Carthaginian setup hexes for cavalry on both sides of their infantry setup, but the game comes with only four Carthaginian cavalry counters. As I assumed, you just use two cavalry units per setup area.
Robert
Developer: Decision Games
Date of Review: 1/24/2017
DESCENT : JOURNEYS IN THE DARK 2nd EDITION For a typical dungeon crawler [?] it seemed appropriate to begin with a bit of na...
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DESCENT : JOURNEYS IN THE DARK 2nd EDITION
DESCENT : JOURNEYS IN THE DARK
2nd EDITION
I particularly hope you enjoy this element of the review, as you see spread throughout, the transformation of some of the 31 monster models and 8 Hero figures from their original, bland, plastic state to their final incarnation.
In pale creamy/white or plain red
The reason each set of monsters has one figure moulded in red is because it represents a master version of the type with stronger stats than the lowly minion version. Fine at the moment, but painting obscures this distinction. So, watch the various ways in which I restored the difference when I painted the models.
After the figures, a brief [or not so brief] list of the components tells you all: 152 small cards in six categories, and 84 larger cards in eight categories, 150 cardboard tokens 8 Hero card sheets and then 48 sumptuous dungeon pieces, along with 7 doors and their plastic stands - oh, and 9 customised, specialist dice.
Last, but not least, 3 substantial full-colour booklets - the main Rule book and two separate Quest books.
The range of large tiles
Connecting corridors
And finally the little connecting bits & pieces
Just one of the maps for the many Encounters
Even where there is a range of choice, rarely is one person having to deal with all the choices. Take the Class cards, which are allied to the Heroes. There are 84 of these alone, but as there are eight heroes to choose from that means that each player has only 10 or 11 cards to consider and only if you are beginning a campaign rather than a single encounter.
4 Archetypes with 2 classes in each.
Of all the cards, the most criticised have been the Search cards for their limited range and not particularly striking effects. In all, there are nine different possibilities, including finding nothing[!], three different types of potion [for two of which there are duplicates] and a number of individual items including a treasure chest. Both the type of objects to be found and their effects seem absolutely typical of dungeon games. Added to these are a number of relics that come in to play. when playing the encounters as part of a campaign. These are primarily rewards for the outcome of an encounter. What I like most about them is that the card for each relic is double-sided; one side for the Heroes if they win and one for the Overlord player [more about him/her soon], if the heroes fail.
Other categories of cards include Condition Cards, which detail such "joys" as what happens if you are inflicted with a condition such as being poisoned, stunned or diseased. Travel Event Cards, which come in to play between Encounters on a Campaign and Shop Item Cards [one of my favourites], which provide the wide range of typical offensive and defensive equipment that you can buy or acquire in the course of any fantasy adventure.
The generic front of the Shop Item Cards
Just a few of the items you can buy in the shop
Goblin Archer :
note the two cards for the different Encounters
Linked to these and very similar are the Lieutenant Cards that identify six individual characters. These are intriguing, as each plays a part in the unfolding Campaign story and features in the substantial eleven page narrative that introduces the first of the two Quest booklets. The only downside is that they are represented by cardboard tokens, not plastic figures. I'm not sure what six more figures would have added to the cost, but it seems a missed opportunity for even more of the excellent detail Descent pays attention to. Much as I'm sorry that FFG didn't do this, it's a very minor point in such a substantial package and I envisage seeking out some appropriate models at a future date to correct this.
The six Lieutenants - servants of Evil
The exemplary knight, Avric Albright
Avric Albright & Leoric of The Book
[basic grey plastic, prior to priming]
Jain Fairwood & Syndrael
The full range of Overlord Cards
A typical Overlord Card
Being Overlord in Descent : Journeys In The Dark is about as good as it gets. Instead of a "passive" organiser/story-teller/plot-driver, you have a very positive [seeing that you're evil, should that be negative?] part to play. At the very least you are running the monsters, moving and fighting with them with your hand of Overlord cards to add to the nasties you can deal out and thwart the pathetic plans of those miserable Heroes. On top of that and even better [worse?], many Encounters have goals for the Overlord to pursue. This, for me, is a major bonus to the game, producing conflicting plot lines and goals for both the good and the bad!
On the left, Health markers, on the right Stamina markers
So, dear reader, as my Stamina is getting low, seems like a good place for you to pause for breath too and enjoy another pictorial interlude.
Flesh-moulders
primed and then given a base coat of flesh and clothing colour
Zombies
Clothing nearly complete, shading applied to the skin colour and an initial coat of grey on the base
Love these finished Spiders.
Note the red edge to the base & red stripe to distinguish
the master model from the minions.
Condition Tokens - love those skulls!
and then Villager Tokens, which stand in for a variety of minor characters that you may come across such as wounded clergy in the opening Encounter : Acolyte of Saradon or captives in Rise of Urthko.Villager Tokens -
kinda sinister for most of what they represent.
I've kept my comments about the counters much briefer largely because they play a simple, functional subsidiary part in any game of this type. However, I feel that it's important to focus on their substantial quality and appearance. Not only do they complement the atmosphere of the game, but there's a really good solidity to them, even the small heart shaped health points, and all match the similar quality of the map tiles.
I found everything clear, logical and well ordered and, though not overly complex, a considerable distance from the simplicity of the old HeroQuest. In particular, Combat is perhaps the most detailed element in the rules. Starting with the appropriate attack dice versus the defender's, as designated on the Hero or Monster's card, these may be affected by such things as character traits or skills along with weapon abilities or defensive qualities. Most often these will be brought in to play by what are called Surges - essentially lighting bolt symbols on the dice that can be used to trigger the corresponding symbol on the range of cards linked to the figures.
If playing a single Encounter as a one-off stand alone scenario, equipment and skills are pre-set, but once again you have the option to upgrade both the Heroes and the Overlord, if you want a stronger, more varied session, or simply enjoy that element of a fantasy game where you purchase skills and equipment.
The Quest booklets, particularly the first one, are illustrated throughout with strong artwork from the front cover to the back.
Delving beneath the substantial surface attraction of the Quest booklets reveals, if anything, even more substance. The first booklet contains an introductory Encounter, two Interludes [consider these three as shorter links in the vast expanding Campaign story] and seven Encounters. But even this is misleading, as five of the seven main Encounters are divided into two sections which in most cases means two full-blown connected Encounters.
The second Quest booklet is equally rich with nine Encounters, including five doubles and a finale of a triple Encounter. Virtually every Encounter seems strongly detailed and the whole expanse provides a wide range of goals for both sides involving different approaches. Pressure of time features quite strongly, often with fatigue tokens being potentially wracked up by one side leading to defeat. Occasionally, I've felt that one or two seem well nigh unachievable especially for the Heroes.
In the earlier games of this type that I've played where there are linked scenarios with items/gold/experience acquired and then able to be spent to develop your Heroes' abilities and equipment, I have to admit that the death of a Hero usually seemed dealt with by resurrecting the character [son of the barbarian?] ready for the next quest [though often with a loss of experience and/or equipment]. So, perhaps, Descent's way of dealing with it is not so different. Ultimately, it is essential for a campaign of such length. But - BIG question - having battled through so many Encounters are you up to the final, "You have failed the Overlord has defeated you!" Well, if you're the Overlord player then yes.
Again, I think this is a major point about this game, especially for the Overlord player who must realise that he/she is a combatant in this game. If you play as a traditional dungeon-master i.e. a facilitator for the Heroes, then, first of all, you'll probably lose. Secondly, for me that's not what I'm in it for. To some extent these are puzzles like in Space Hulk and as always the luck of the dice will play their part, but above all it's the experience, the atmosphere, the whole immersive quality. On this count, I think Descent scores admirably. On the other hand, you will find those who've dismissed it as bland and generic.
That the number of monsters in each group and the number of reinforcements that the Overlord is allowed to bring in is tied to the number of hero players is a strong point, unlike some fantasy games where you were always constrained by not having enough players to make the scenario worth playing. Though that could usually be overcome by each player running two hero characters.
A Final Glimpse of Some Painted Heroes
Syndrael, Elf Warrior
Jain Fairwood, Human Scout
Grisban the Thirsty, Warrior Dwarf
And the largest Monsters
Should you too take to this system then there are certainly more than enough expansions to feed your appetite for some time to come and, as I believe that the majority of players will still want to become the Heroes and for those who simply have to be on the side of good, then Roads to Legend the app provides the necessary Overlord, so that all the human players can choose from the good side. But, as with so many aspects, this too has its devotees and its dissenters.
Ultimately, I cannot speak as one who has a vast experience of many fantasy systems and I imagine that, if you are, then you'll already know whether you like Descent or not. Perhaps. more than any other genre of gaming, fantasy seems to attract strongly polarised opinions. Personally, I have found Descent a strong contender in quality of component, variety and game play. It meets all that I find enjoyable in fantasy gaming and for me has been a far better and richer experience than the several, different games that sit on the fantasy/horror borderline that I've had friends press me to try.
Esdevium Games: UK supplier of FFG games and a whole host of other games and toys.
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