Jana & Javier: Jana's Conclusions

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I packed up the game while we talked about what we liked and disliked, what could have gone better, and what was enjoyable. This is our standard post-game wrap-up with my group - it gives everyone a chance to be heard, and lets us identify new games for maximum enjoyment. Unfortunately, our list of dislikes grew quite long.

The primary complaints have to do with the balance of the game, at least with the two army choices in the starter box. The Orc units all have lower initiatives and hit points, meaning that most of the time you are going to spend your turn defending and getting dead. Boy, that sounds like fun. The units cost the same as the Empire units, and have about the same melee attack score, but there is nothing that balances out the consistently lower initiatives. The best chance the Orcs have is to attack piecemeal, picking off individual enemy units from around the board while trying to avoid large combats. This draws out the length of the game, and to some degree lessens the excitement associated with big tabletop battles.

We also observed some odd things with the missile and melee attack balances. It seems strange that the archer units had a better melee attack than missile attack. Since your archers had to be in base-to-base contact to attack, there was no benefit gained by sitting several hexes away and raining arrows on the enemy. The only advantage you get is that missile attacks go before melee attacks in the combat sequence. Why would you use a missile attack with a lower probability of hitting, when you have a better melee attack option? There is no point in having a unit of 'archers' in this game, other than as a variation on the artwork.

So, to answer the questions I had when I opened the box:

Is the game fun to play?

It was okay. We did enjoy manoevering and setting up the combats, planning our empire's expansion, and setting up for that big orgy of destruction. Unfortunately, in the games we played it never panned out to a satifying conclusion for either side.

Is there any repeat play value in this game?

There are sufficient game pieces and enough options included to play this game over and over again right out of the box. If you like it that much, expansion sets are available.

And, most importantly...

Is this a game my group will want to play again? (Or, Should I buy this game?)

This met with a resounding "No." None of us liked it enough to consider buying the game, even though we thought it was attractive. We had all seen the miniatures at Tabletop Games, which for a while was the U.S. distributor, and we had all admired them. Exposure to the rules was a complete turn-off, however.

Afterward

If you love something, set it free. I happily packed up the game and sent it to my partner Javier in Mexico City. The post office had told me he'd have it in two weeks.

Well, 6 weeks later it wasn't there. We prepared to pull out of the contest. Then, 3 days after that, it showed up back on my doorstep. The game must have liked me more than I liked it. I pointed out to the postmaster that they had covered up Javier's zip code with a postal sticker, which is why it could not be delivered. They shipped it a second time at their expense.

Go To Javier's First Impressions