Dark Heaven Apocalypse

The combat modifiers were a bit tricky for us at first, but once we mastered it we never looked back. Battles are fast, furious and final. For the first time in years we actually finish our battles with a clear defined winner. Keeping something in reserve is very essential to winning. The magic is subtle and can be deadly if you aren't paying attention to your enemies' magic users. My current army of vampires does not contain a magic user. For game play, we designed a roster style sheet for our armies, and use it over the statistical box they use in the rules.

In summary, this game is well written and in some areas overwritten. The graphic presentation of the rule book is a bit 'crowded' looking, but for their first game it's very impressive in its depth of story line and balance of play. I would give it 4.5 out of 5 stars, and tell anyone that it's well worth the money.

The Combat Resolution is quick but unremarkable. Unlike more complicated games (that take a lot longer to play), you never really look forward to combat.

The combat system would be acceptable, however, if the gameworld were more remarkable. Unfortunately, Avallor is a very stereotypical fantasy universe. (Although the vampire lords are interesting, if not exactly new to the fantasy setting.)

As for the actual rules and manuals, the books are in black and white and do not include any photographs of Reaper's excellent miniature line - which is unfortunate, since I believe Reaper makes some of the most unique miniatures available.

Rating: Dark Heaven Apocalpyse rates a 2 out of 5 Swords. Buy it for the free miniatures, and keep the rest of the stuff in case Reaper ever improves on its initial entry.