Post by Gilvan Blight on Dec 31, 2007 11:24:07 GMT -5
Quickly: one of the best epic battle simulations I have played.
[glow=blue,2,300]Summary:[/glow]Days of Wonder claims this game is a mix of a Board Game, a Roleplaying Game, a Miniature game and a Card Game. Players each take on the role of opposing generals on opposite sides of a hex battlefield facing off with two massive armies. Armies are comprised of various real world historical units supported by fantasy mercenary units (Goblins and Dwarves) and led by a War Council of fantasy archetypes including the Warrior, Wizard, Cleric and Rogue. Fantasy Creatures can also be found on the Battlefield including the Giant Spider, Hill Giant and Earth Elemental.
The battlefield is set up based on a scenario selected by the players. 10 are included in the base game, more are available in expansion sets and online. The map is made up of a blank hex board on which hex terrain tiles are added. The basic game includes Forests, Hills, Rivers (with bridges and fords), Battlements and landmarks (used with the War council and include the Warriors Training grounds and The Clerics magic pool for example). The scenario also indicates what units each player fields and their starting positions.
Units are comprised of a set of miniatures and a banner. The miniatures represent the number of troops in the unit (4 for infantry, 3 for cavalry) as well as what the unit is armed with. The banners give more details about the unit including what army they are with, an icon showing the units weapons and a colour denoting the strength of the unit. Units are broken into Green - irregulars, Blue - regulars and Red - Elite troops. Green units tend to move the farthest but hit the weakest where Elite troops attack very strongly but move very slowly. There are a set of base stats that apply to each unit depending on whether it is a mounted unit or not and it's banner colour. For example green footman units move 2 squares and can battle with 2 dice. Each units equipped weapon gives you the remaining info needed for the unit and includes special rules for battling. For example Regular Bows battle with -1 die when the unit moves during it's turn.
The game uses the Command and Colours engine first developed for the Avalon Hill game Battle Cry then used in Memoir 44 and later Command and Colours Ancients. There are two core concepts in this engine, Command Cards and Unit and dice Colours.
Command Cards: at the start of each battle players are given a hand of command cards, the number of which is determined by the scenario being played. Each turn starts with the active player playing one command card. It's worth noting here that the battlefield map is broken into three sections, a left wing, a center and a right wing. The command cards are broken into two types, Tactics cards and Section Cards. Section cards relate to the three sections of the battlefield and will note a section of the board and a number of units. So for example a Left Flank Attack Card would show the Left section of the board highlighted and say Order 2 Units. This would mean that the player playing the card would get to use 2 units on their left flan in the next phases. Tactic cards aren't section specific and let the player do other things, like move all foot troops, fire with all archers twice, move all blue bannered units, etc. You only get to play one of these a turn meaning you only get to activate and use a small portion of your force each round.
Unit and Dice Colours: The colours aspect of the game comes up when you battle. When one unit attacks another first range and line of sight are checked and then the attacker figures out how many dice they get to attack with. This is determined by the colour of the unit attacking and what weapon they are using and is modified by terrain (for example units attacking into and out of a wood can use a max of two dice to battle). The attacker then rolls the dice. The dice are unique to the game. 1 side of each die is a Lore Symbol in purple that is used when using Loremasters (that battle council mentioned above) and considered a mist when not using them (otherwise it generates lore counters that can be used to play special abilities). Another side of the die shows a black Flag. This is a retreat flag and for each one rolled the defender generally has to retreat toward his side of the board or loose units if they cannot retreat. Another side has an orange Shield and Sword symbol. These count as hits for units equipped with the right weapons (e.x. swords count these, bows do not). The remaining three sides show helmets in red green and blue and these correspond to the unit colours. For each die that comes up on the colour of the unit being attacked, that unit looses one figure. When the last figure is removed the attacker places the standard barer onto his victory track.
Movement is done hex by hex with each unit having a movement speed based on its type, mounted or infantry and colour. Terrain effects movement and you cannot move through another unit, friend or foe. Line of sight is determined from center of hex to center of hex with units and most terrain blocking line of sight. There is a moral system in the game as well. When a unit is Bold it can ignore one flag on a die and will not retreat as easily, also if it is not defeated in melee it can battle back in combat. Dwarves are automatically Bold, but other units need to be adjacent to two friendly units to be Bold. Goblins are Fearful which means that when they do retreat they retreat twice as far. There is also a system for advancing forward after defeating an enemy unit or forcing them to retreat and for mounted units to pursue and get an extra attack.
The RPG aspects of the game come out when the War Council rules are used. Players are assigned (by scenario) or build a commanding force for their army out of a bunch of fantasy archetypes. You pick from the 5 different LoreMasters and assign them a level from 1-3 up to a maximum determined by the scenario. There is a commander who's level determines how many command cards you initially start with. The other characters (Wizard, Thief, Cleric or Warrior) level determines how many special abilities they have and if they provide landmarks to be added to the battlefield. Special abilities are represented by Lore Cards. A deck of lore cards is made before the battle based on what Loremasters are in play, players draw from these to determine which special abilities their Loremasters can use. These include things like Fireballs and Lightning bolts for the Wizard, Bless and Heal for the Cleric, Backstab and Spy for the Thief, etc. These abilities are powered by lore tokens which are generated whenever the purple lore symbol is rolled during play. The landmarks are special terrain pieces that can be placed by a player who has a level 3 loremaster. These give in game benefits for units occupying them, for example the Clerics Spring heals a damaged unit to full.
Creatures are represented by a single large miniature on a hex base. They are only used when required by a scenario or when summoned through the use of a Loremaster's special abilities. Creatures have their own stat cards and follow specific rules unique to them. All creatures have a set movement rate and number of dice they battle with. In addition to their normal attacks creatures have special attacks. These are powered by lore. When a creature rolls a purple lore symbol on a die during combat they can immediately use it to power a special ability or take a lore counter to power up an ability for later use. Creatures are also hard to kill. A critical hit is required to kill a creature, which required the attacker to hit the creature then roll the hitting die again and roll the creatures colour. This means that even when hit a creature still has a 5 in 6 chance of surviving the hit.
Players battle until a set victory condition is met, which is usually just destroying X number of enemy units, but does include capturing certain landmarks or advancing to a certain point in some scenarios.
[glow=green,2,300]The good:[/glow]It may not sound like it from the above but the Command and Colours engine is very elegant and very easy to explain and to learn. After only minutes of explanation we were right in the heat of our first battle. The game also includes a ton of 'rule cards' that contain all necessary information for unit types, weapons, terrain etc. At the start of each scenario players are given one card for each type of terrain on the board, one for each type of unit in the game, one for the basic game rules, etc. It's a great reference system. I really enjoy the Command card system. At first it's odd moving so few units at once, but then the turns are very quick with you moving only a few units then your opponent doing the same then it coming back to you quickly. It actually does give you the feel that the entire battle is happening somewhat simultaneously. Much more so then other mass battle systems like Warhammer where one entire army moves and shoots before anyone from the other army goes. The miniatures included were very nice and well detailed for their size (I'd guess 18mm or so) made out of that softish plastic that means they won't break while being squeezed into the box. The box design is the best I have ever seen for having a place for everything meaning transport is not an issue (unless you decide to paint all your dudes). Web support for this game is amazing. There are literally hundreds of scenarios online as well as bunch of supplemental things like Painting Guilds. It's not nearly as much as say Warhammer but for a smaller company boardgame it's very impressive. They game itself is nice and short while still being rewarding. I love that you can play out a mass battle in a hour or two, instead of playing all night long. I like the background. What they did was take the 100 Years War between the English and French and re-tell it with fantasy elements. Where the Scottish become Dwarves and the Arabs become goblins and the War councils contained Clerics and Wizards.
[glow=yellow,2,300]The Bad:[/glow]Many of the minis, due to their soft plastic nature come bent and twisted. I have read that a bath of hot water followed by ice water will fix this, but as long as I am going to store them 'mashed' into the box they came with I don't see the point. I was disappointed that the game only had two fantasy races and only came with one creature (unfortunately I got into the game after the Earth Elemental Preview and the Giant early adapter bonuses). I expected a lot more fantasy races. Even the expansions are still only just goblins and dwarves. Even thought there are some RPG elements in this with the War council you build (kind of like a character) there is no xp system or advancement which to me are key elements of any RPG. I wouldn't consider this any sort of RPG system.
[glow=red,2,300]The Ugly:[/glow]There is quite a bit of randomness in this one. From the randomly drawn command cards to the dice that mean that you only usually hit a unit 1 in 6 times. This will annoy hardcore wargamers who are used to Chit based games where unit strengths and weaknesses are more important then good dice rolling. Due to this it can feel like luck has more to do with winning or loosing then strategy. I still feel there is more strategy in this then Warhammer or other miniature battle games I have played.
[glow=purple,2,300]Overall:[/glow]If you can't tell from the above, I really like this game. I love the system and will be looking to pick up more of the Command and Colours games (Command and Colours Ancients next on the list I think). This is a very elegant easy to learn quick playing game. It recreates massive battles in a very accessible way. This is great for someone like me that loves the concept of mass battles but hates the complexity and time required by most wargames. I would have preferred to see more fantasy elements in the game but that's not going to stop me from playing.
[glow=blue,2,300]Summary:[/glow]Days of Wonder claims this game is a mix of a Board Game, a Roleplaying Game, a Miniature game and a Card Game. Players each take on the role of opposing generals on opposite sides of a hex battlefield facing off with two massive armies. Armies are comprised of various real world historical units supported by fantasy mercenary units (Goblins and Dwarves) and led by a War Council of fantasy archetypes including the Warrior, Wizard, Cleric and Rogue. Fantasy Creatures can also be found on the Battlefield including the Giant Spider, Hill Giant and Earth Elemental.
The battlefield is set up based on a scenario selected by the players. 10 are included in the base game, more are available in expansion sets and online. The map is made up of a blank hex board on which hex terrain tiles are added. The basic game includes Forests, Hills, Rivers (with bridges and fords), Battlements and landmarks (used with the War council and include the Warriors Training grounds and The Clerics magic pool for example). The scenario also indicates what units each player fields and their starting positions.
Units are comprised of a set of miniatures and a banner. The miniatures represent the number of troops in the unit (4 for infantry, 3 for cavalry) as well as what the unit is armed with. The banners give more details about the unit including what army they are with, an icon showing the units weapons and a colour denoting the strength of the unit. Units are broken into Green - irregulars, Blue - regulars and Red - Elite troops. Green units tend to move the farthest but hit the weakest where Elite troops attack very strongly but move very slowly. There are a set of base stats that apply to each unit depending on whether it is a mounted unit or not and it's banner colour. For example green footman units move 2 squares and can battle with 2 dice. Each units equipped weapon gives you the remaining info needed for the unit and includes special rules for battling. For example Regular Bows battle with -1 die when the unit moves during it's turn.
The game uses the Command and Colours engine first developed for the Avalon Hill game Battle Cry then used in Memoir 44 and later Command and Colours Ancients. There are two core concepts in this engine, Command Cards and Unit and dice Colours.
Command Cards: at the start of each battle players are given a hand of command cards, the number of which is determined by the scenario being played. Each turn starts with the active player playing one command card. It's worth noting here that the battlefield map is broken into three sections, a left wing, a center and a right wing. The command cards are broken into two types, Tactics cards and Section Cards. Section cards relate to the three sections of the battlefield and will note a section of the board and a number of units. So for example a Left Flank Attack Card would show the Left section of the board highlighted and say Order 2 Units. This would mean that the player playing the card would get to use 2 units on their left flan in the next phases. Tactic cards aren't section specific and let the player do other things, like move all foot troops, fire with all archers twice, move all blue bannered units, etc. You only get to play one of these a turn meaning you only get to activate and use a small portion of your force each round.
Unit and Dice Colours: The colours aspect of the game comes up when you battle. When one unit attacks another first range and line of sight are checked and then the attacker figures out how many dice they get to attack with. This is determined by the colour of the unit attacking and what weapon they are using and is modified by terrain (for example units attacking into and out of a wood can use a max of two dice to battle). The attacker then rolls the dice. The dice are unique to the game. 1 side of each die is a Lore Symbol in purple that is used when using Loremasters (that battle council mentioned above) and considered a mist when not using them (otherwise it generates lore counters that can be used to play special abilities). Another side of the die shows a black Flag. This is a retreat flag and for each one rolled the defender generally has to retreat toward his side of the board or loose units if they cannot retreat. Another side has an orange Shield and Sword symbol. These count as hits for units equipped with the right weapons (e.x. swords count these, bows do not). The remaining three sides show helmets in red green and blue and these correspond to the unit colours. For each die that comes up on the colour of the unit being attacked, that unit looses one figure. When the last figure is removed the attacker places the standard barer onto his victory track.
Movement is done hex by hex with each unit having a movement speed based on its type, mounted or infantry and colour. Terrain effects movement and you cannot move through another unit, friend or foe. Line of sight is determined from center of hex to center of hex with units and most terrain blocking line of sight. There is a moral system in the game as well. When a unit is Bold it can ignore one flag on a die and will not retreat as easily, also if it is not defeated in melee it can battle back in combat. Dwarves are automatically Bold, but other units need to be adjacent to two friendly units to be Bold. Goblins are Fearful which means that when they do retreat they retreat twice as far. There is also a system for advancing forward after defeating an enemy unit or forcing them to retreat and for mounted units to pursue and get an extra attack.
The RPG aspects of the game come out when the War Council rules are used. Players are assigned (by scenario) or build a commanding force for their army out of a bunch of fantasy archetypes. You pick from the 5 different LoreMasters and assign them a level from 1-3 up to a maximum determined by the scenario. There is a commander who's level determines how many command cards you initially start with. The other characters (Wizard, Thief, Cleric or Warrior) level determines how many special abilities they have and if they provide landmarks to be added to the battlefield. Special abilities are represented by Lore Cards. A deck of lore cards is made before the battle based on what Loremasters are in play, players draw from these to determine which special abilities their Loremasters can use. These include things like Fireballs and Lightning bolts for the Wizard, Bless and Heal for the Cleric, Backstab and Spy for the Thief, etc. These abilities are powered by lore tokens which are generated whenever the purple lore symbol is rolled during play. The landmarks are special terrain pieces that can be placed by a player who has a level 3 loremaster. These give in game benefits for units occupying them, for example the Clerics Spring heals a damaged unit to full.
Creatures are represented by a single large miniature on a hex base. They are only used when required by a scenario or when summoned through the use of a Loremaster's special abilities. Creatures have their own stat cards and follow specific rules unique to them. All creatures have a set movement rate and number of dice they battle with. In addition to their normal attacks creatures have special attacks. These are powered by lore. When a creature rolls a purple lore symbol on a die during combat they can immediately use it to power a special ability or take a lore counter to power up an ability for later use. Creatures are also hard to kill. A critical hit is required to kill a creature, which required the attacker to hit the creature then roll the hitting die again and roll the creatures colour. This means that even when hit a creature still has a 5 in 6 chance of surviving the hit.
Players battle until a set victory condition is met, which is usually just destroying X number of enemy units, but does include capturing certain landmarks or advancing to a certain point in some scenarios.
[glow=green,2,300]The good:[/glow]It may not sound like it from the above but the Command and Colours engine is very elegant and very easy to explain and to learn. After only minutes of explanation we were right in the heat of our first battle. The game also includes a ton of 'rule cards' that contain all necessary information for unit types, weapons, terrain etc. At the start of each scenario players are given one card for each type of terrain on the board, one for each type of unit in the game, one for the basic game rules, etc. It's a great reference system. I really enjoy the Command card system. At first it's odd moving so few units at once, but then the turns are very quick with you moving only a few units then your opponent doing the same then it coming back to you quickly. It actually does give you the feel that the entire battle is happening somewhat simultaneously. Much more so then other mass battle systems like Warhammer where one entire army moves and shoots before anyone from the other army goes. The miniatures included were very nice and well detailed for their size (I'd guess 18mm or so) made out of that softish plastic that means they won't break while being squeezed into the box. The box design is the best I have ever seen for having a place for everything meaning transport is not an issue (unless you decide to paint all your dudes). Web support for this game is amazing. There are literally hundreds of scenarios online as well as bunch of supplemental things like Painting Guilds. It's not nearly as much as say Warhammer but for a smaller company boardgame it's very impressive. They game itself is nice and short while still being rewarding. I love that you can play out a mass battle in a hour or two, instead of playing all night long. I like the background. What they did was take the 100 Years War between the English and French and re-tell it with fantasy elements. Where the Scottish become Dwarves and the Arabs become goblins and the War councils contained Clerics and Wizards.
[glow=yellow,2,300]The Bad:[/glow]Many of the minis, due to their soft plastic nature come bent and twisted. I have read that a bath of hot water followed by ice water will fix this, but as long as I am going to store them 'mashed' into the box they came with I don't see the point. I was disappointed that the game only had two fantasy races and only came with one creature (unfortunately I got into the game after the Earth Elemental Preview and the Giant early adapter bonuses). I expected a lot more fantasy races. Even the expansions are still only just goblins and dwarves. Even thought there are some RPG elements in this with the War council you build (kind of like a character) there is no xp system or advancement which to me are key elements of any RPG. I wouldn't consider this any sort of RPG system.
[glow=red,2,300]The Ugly:[/glow]There is quite a bit of randomness in this one. From the randomly drawn command cards to the dice that mean that you only usually hit a unit 1 in 6 times. This will annoy hardcore wargamers who are used to Chit based games where unit strengths and weaknesses are more important then good dice rolling. Due to this it can feel like luck has more to do with winning or loosing then strategy. I still feel there is more strategy in this then Warhammer or other miniature battle games I have played.
[glow=purple,2,300]Overall:[/glow]If you can't tell from the above, I really like this game. I love the system and will be looking to pick up more of the Command and Colours games (Command and Colours Ancients next on the list I think). This is a very elegant easy to learn quick playing game. It recreates massive battles in a very accessible way. This is great for someone like me that loves the concept of mass battles but hates the complexity and time required by most wargames. I would have preferred to see more fantasy elements in the game but that's not going to stop me from playing.