For those who don't know me, I'm Bryan Winter, designer of Dragon Hordes.
I also designed Dragon Lords for
Grenadier oh-so-long ago (but hey, I had nothing to do with the pricing and
the packaging, so don't blame me for that). :-)
Basically, I had always wanted to improve upon Dragon Lords' design, but
never had the opportunity. Finally I decided, the heck with it, I'll start
over from scratch. The result is Dragon Hordes. I'm a long-time GW hound
and (as my CCG designs indicate) spent a great deal of time designing for
Target Games/
Heartbreaker (tho' never in their TTG lines, to my chagrin).
In designing Dragon Hordes, I took a good look at the (numerous) TTGs in my
collection, and thought about what I wanted in my own personal "perfect
TTG." There were a few things I decided upon quite early:
- The world does not need another TTG dealing with special forces and
individual troops.
- The really big stuff (dragons, cannons, vehicles, cavalry) is what most
people (me, anyway) really like anyway.
- Figures have gotten too expensive for the "average" player to keep up
with the arms race.
- There really wasn't a game out there that hasn't become bogged down by
too many rules and exceptions.
- There was no "epic" fantasy game out there.
So, I tried to make a game that took care of all five of the above points.
The result (I'd like to think) is a game that is easy to learn, quick to
set up, fast to play, a lot of fun, and cheap.
Dragon Hordes really does embody the KISS mentality. But it
really embodies the "It's your game, play it the way you find the most
enjoyable" mentality (in fact, that is clearly highlighted as the game's
Most Important Rule). If you want to, do it. If you don't, don't (and if you are worried about
tourny play, ask the tourney official).
We're all set to roll on the new miniatures
as soon as we sell more games!! The really great thing about Dragon
Hordes is you don't need the miniatures to play (but I, like many of you,
love the 3D figs, and really want to use them in my games). If you want
to use your old Dragon Lords figs, you will find that they are about the
right size.... Coincidence? I don't think so. :-)
We do have a couple of new factions
planned. One is "Immaculata" - a race of women who are very
religious and very tough. But no chainmail bikinis - one thing you will
never see in a Dragon Hordes product is a Xena clone. I hate that crap.
The Dragon Hordes women are real warriors wearing real armor and
controlling really tough beasts and war machines. Okay, I'll get off my
soapbox now... :-)
Well, I'll written my fingers off. Let me know if you have any questions.
- Bryan Winter
- Freelance Game Design
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