Post by LOBO on Sept 6, 2005 11:11:29 GMT -5
found an oline review of this one:
Return of the Heroes is a board game enacting the story of ambitious young heroes finding their fortunes and then facing an ancient evil. Translated from the German, RotH looks and plays differently than your typical American board game, although it does remind me of classic Avalon Hill games such as Wizards. The box is lovely, in a vintage fantasy style. The components are not particularly fancy, just durable and clean cardboard punchouts, resin beads, and wooden squares. Overall, it's a cute if unambitious-looking game.
The game comes in an introductory form as well as the full game. The only significant differences are the addition of the Cleric as a fifth possible character and greater uncertainties in play. For instance, the identity (and powers and weakness) of the Nameless is unknown at the beginning of the full game.
Each player takes the part of a hero, dwarf, fighter, mage, or elf, and selects either the male or female portrait and playing piece. The players arrange sixteen map tiles into a grid and place encounters in their initial positions. The initial setup was confusing and difficult the first time around, but painless once we got the hang of it. The most tedious part was separting out the components unused in the basic game. Each player has two goals. First, his hero must complete a heroic deed, fulfilling his family legacy and gaining a magic stone. As soon as any player accomplishes this, the touch of the Nameless is felt, and once the Nameless appears, any player with a magic stone may journey to his fortress and confront him. In the basic game, the Nameless is the Shadow (go see the movie The Gamers if you don't immediately feel the need to say, "The Shadow!"), but in the full game, his identity is unknown until confronted, unless revealed by talking with the humble Mice.
Each turn consists, essentially, of movement, and Action. If you encounter a monster, Action always begins with a fight. Other actions include visiting the market, completing tasks, and so forth.
Each character has three combat abilities, magic, archery, and melee, and certain initial ratings. For instance, the mage begins with a high magic rating. Training and various magical devices can raise these initial ratings. Experience, gained from Tasks and encounters, grant additional dice. Each character card also has a supply of hit points, gold, up to four artifacts, and up to four tasks. Each character type has not only individual ratings in magic, archery, and melee, but unique talents. The dwarf is slow, but very durable. The mage begins with only two hit points, but can find hidden passages with ease.
Artifacts range from mundane items purchased at the market to handy carts to powerful magic items to special artifacts gained from the hero's Heroic Deed. The magic items are nearly essential to defeat certain Nameless, since some inflict double damage unless the hero is armed with a specific item.
Tasks are miniature quests. Most consist of visiting a certain encounter on the board. Others involve special items. Upon completion, each task generates a reward, often experience or gold or both, as well as new encounters.
The Heroic Deed is like a series of advanced Tasks. The reward is your family legacy, a powerful item, a magic stone, and the attention of the Nameless.
Most of the board consists of a series of tan fields. Some of them are connected by hidden paths that must be negotiated. Some spaces, such as the White Village, can heal or otherwise affect your character. The board is also littered with random encounters. When you step on the random encounter, the counter is flipped over, revealing a monster to fight, a Task you may accept, or an Encounter that is then placed on its appropriate place on the board. Those encounters, such as Trainers, the Beggar, or markets, can be visited by other players, repeatedly.
While it is possible to interfere with the other players, and one Task involves stealing a cube of experience from another player, the players are in a race, not a free for all. This makes for a highly competitive yet not entirely cutthroat game, ideal for family games and friendly get-togethers. There is no single obvious strategy. Players must decide when and how to complete their Heroic Deed. Gathering a little experience makes the task easier, but completing it first means an advantage over the other players. But if the Heroic Deed is completed too soon, the minions of the Nameless march out to stop the heroes, complicating movement and the completion of other Tasks. Once a player has a stone, he must decide when it is time to strike. Should he max out his abilities, or strike as soon as he has a reasonable chance? Go shopping for valuable items and beneficial Tasks, or head for victory?
If any player is defeated, his hero's heir enters the game with a single item and no experience, making it unlikely but remotely possible to still obtain victory.
I found the gameplay simple and fast-paced. Once the rules were well understood, play proceeded smoothly, and therein lies my only complaint. The rules are written as a gentle introduction, at which they succeed, but many rules are hard to understand without seeing them in play. The rules, translated from German, also present some ambiguities and minor errors. For instance, the description of experience notes you keep the two "highest" dice, but it means the most favorable, since usually you will want the lowest (unless training). At least one of the counters had untranslated German on it, but the meaning was in no way obscure. Fortunately, the Glossary is a wonderful piece of work. Consulting the Glossary was able to immediately resolve every question we had about the game, save one. If a minion and a random encounter are both on the same space, do you resolve the Minion first? If so, do you still get the random encounter? Our decision was that since combat always happens first, and a minion is always combat, whereas a random encounter is not, and that therefore you should do the minion battle, then the encounter (since the Action phase does not limit you to one action).
Even with the inexperience factor, RotH plays faster than I anticipated from its vintage trappings. This is a fun game that belongs on the shelf of any fan of board game or RPG play. Because of the variability of play, this game should afford great returns on the investment.
Return of the Heroes is a board game enacting the story of ambitious young heroes finding their fortunes and then facing an ancient evil. Translated from the German, RotH looks and plays differently than your typical American board game, although it does remind me of classic Avalon Hill games such as Wizards. The box is lovely, in a vintage fantasy style. The components are not particularly fancy, just durable and clean cardboard punchouts, resin beads, and wooden squares. Overall, it's a cute if unambitious-looking game.
The game comes in an introductory form as well as the full game. The only significant differences are the addition of the Cleric as a fifth possible character and greater uncertainties in play. For instance, the identity (and powers and weakness) of the Nameless is unknown at the beginning of the full game.
Each player takes the part of a hero, dwarf, fighter, mage, or elf, and selects either the male or female portrait and playing piece. The players arrange sixteen map tiles into a grid and place encounters in their initial positions. The initial setup was confusing and difficult the first time around, but painless once we got the hang of it. The most tedious part was separting out the components unused in the basic game. Each player has two goals. First, his hero must complete a heroic deed, fulfilling his family legacy and gaining a magic stone. As soon as any player accomplishes this, the touch of the Nameless is felt, and once the Nameless appears, any player with a magic stone may journey to his fortress and confront him. In the basic game, the Nameless is the Shadow (go see the movie The Gamers if you don't immediately feel the need to say, "The Shadow!"), but in the full game, his identity is unknown until confronted, unless revealed by talking with the humble Mice.
Each turn consists, essentially, of movement, and Action. If you encounter a monster, Action always begins with a fight. Other actions include visiting the market, completing tasks, and so forth.
Each character has three combat abilities, magic, archery, and melee, and certain initial ratings. For instance, the mage begins with a high magic rating. Training and various magical devices can raise these initial ratings. Experience, gained from Tasks and encounters, grant additional dice. Each character card also has a supply of hit points, gold, up to four artifacts, and up to four tasks. Each character type has not only individual ratings in magic, archery, and melee, but unique talents. The dwarf is slow, but very durable. The mage begins with only two hit points, but can find hidden passages with ease.
Artifacts range from mundane items purchased at the market to handy carts to powerful magic items to special artifacts gained from the hero's Heroic Deed. The magic items are nearly essential to defeat certain Nameless, since some inflict double damage unless the hero is armed with a specific item.
Tasks are miniature quests. Most consist of visiting a certain encounter on the board. Others involve special items. Upon completion, each task generates a reward, often experience or gold or both, as well as new encounters.
The Heroic Deed is like a series of advanced Tasks. The reward is your family legacy, a powerful item, a magic stone, and the attention of the Nameless.
Most of the board consists of a series of tan fields. Some of them are connected by hidden paths that must be negotiated. Some spaces, such as the White Village, can heal or otherwise affect your character. The board is also littered with random encounters. When you step on the random encounter, the counter is flipped over, revealing a monster to fight, a Task you may accept, or an Encounter that is then placed on its appropriate place on the board. Those encounters, such as Trainers, the Beggar, or markets, can be visited by other players, repeatedly.
While it is possible to interfere with the other players, and one Task involves stealing a cube of experience from another player, the players are in a race, not a free for all. This makes for a highly competitive yet not entirely cutthroat game, ideal for family games and friendly get-togethers. There is no single obvious strategy. Players must decide when and how to complete their Heroic Deed. Gathering a little experience makes the task easier, but completing it first means an advantage over the other players. But if the Heroic Deed is completed too soon, the minions of the Nameless march out to stop the heroes, complicating movement and the completion of other Tasks. Once a player has a stone, he must decide when it is time to strike. Should he max out his abilities, or strike as soon as he has a reasonable chance? Go shopping for valuable items and beneficial Tasks, or head for victory?
If any player is defeated, his hero's heir enters the game with a single item and no experience, making it unlikely but remotely possible to still obtain victory.
I found the gameplay simple and fast-paced. Once the rules were well understood, play proceeded smoothly, and therein lies my only complaint. The rules are written as a gentle introduction, at which they succeed, but many rules are hard to understand without seeing them in play. The rules, translated from German, also present some ambiguities and minor errors. For instance, the description of experience notes you keep the two "highest" dice, but it means the most favorable, since usually you will want the lowest (unless training). At least one of the counters had untranslated German on it, but the meaning was in no way obscure. Fortunately, the Glossary is a wonderful piece of work. Consulting the Glossary was able to immediately resolve every question we had about the game, save one. If a minion and a random encounter are both on the same space, do you resolve the Minion first? If so, do you still get the random encounter? Our decision was that since combat always happens first, and a minion is always combat, whereas a random encounter is not, and that therefore you should do the minion battle, then the encounter (since the Action phase does not limit you to one action).
Even with the inexperience factor, RotH plays faster than I anticipated from its vintage trappings. This is a fun game that belongs on the shelf of any fan of board game or RPG play. Because of the variability of play, this game should afford great returns on the investment.