Past - 2014

My winning move as the Army of North Vietnam in Fire in the Lake.

As 2014 draws to a close I'm having my little look back at this year of gaming. Pregnancy and having a baby certainly cut into the gaming but I'm happy to still have managed to play a whole bunch of games. In my "Future - 2014" post from the beginning of the year I talked about wanting to play less games, more. As in wanting to play a given game a larger number of times instead of flitting from game to game like some deranged butterfly.

I'm not sure how well I actually succeeded at this but I at least worked toward this goal. Looking at my plays at BGG I can see that most of the singles are games suggested by friends while the games that I've wanted to play at least have a couple of plays each. I still think this is a good goal to aim toward and I'll keep it in mind during 2015 as well. Now, let's take a look at the top threes!

Board Games

Still holding strong(ish) at first place is Star Wars: The Card Game from FFG! Although Anders have more or less abandoned the game, my buddy Claes picked it up and we've played it throughout the year. I still think it's a lot of fun and a much better filler than Netrunner or Lord of the Rings, which I also own and like. When we get more experience with it Netrunner might be able to be brought down into the 20 minute window, but right now we still spend too much time pondering our moves for it to really work as a filler. SW you can either just play while waiting for something else, or run a number of games in a row, switching decks and sides, during an entire evening. I still haven't got any cards from the latest two cycles though and I need to remedy this as there has been a lot of cool stuff released!

At number two we have a bit of a surprise: A Few Acres of Snow! This is a game I've had my eye on for a looong time but for some reason I never actually pulled the trigger. There has been a lot of talk about the "broken" first edition and some claim that the second is just as bad, but we've had a blast playing it! I discovered that it's available to play online for free (and legal) at  Yucata.de so that's where most of our plays are from, but then Claes actually gave it to me as a surprise birthday gift, so I'll finally be able to get some proper physical plays in. :)

Number three on the list is another unexpected game I think: Hobbit Tales from the Green Dragon Inn! You might notice a trend here that the most played games are either light/quick or played online. Hehe! Anyway, although I loved the look and idea of Hobbit Tales I was a little unsure how well it would actually work with my regular gaming group. Even though we're all old rpg veterans we've never played a narrative board game like this before. However, I shouldn't have worried at all as everyone has really enjoyed it and spun great yarns of adventure, fame and misery! A round is played in about 20-30 minutes so it's very easy to play a couple of games back to back. I will be reviewing it as part of my ongoing Season of the Ring and I'm looking forward to using it while playing The One Ring as well.

Other games with a decent number of plays were Star Trek: Fleet Captains(!), Android: Netrunner, Robinson Crusoe: Adventure on the Cursed Island and Love Letter. You might wonder at the lack of Phil Eklund titles, but actually Greenland, Pax Porfiriana, Origns and High Frontier were all played, although in small numbers. The same goes for the games in the COIN series from GMT.

Roleplaying Games

If you read this blog with any regularity you probably already know that Mutant: Year Zero was the top played roleplaying game during 2014. Actually, although there are only two games on this list (not even a top three!) I've roleplayed more this year than in the past five years put together! After we wrapped up Torchbearer (see below) we started on our M:0 campaign and have had a lot of fun with it. The game requires very little prep which, again, is great if you're strapped for time. When I get back to Sweden in the spring we'll try to round of this part of our Mutant experience and start preparing for Gene Lab Alpha where you play as mutated/uplifted animals. Of course both games take place in the same setting and apart from mutated humans and animals we have the robots and the non-mutated (frozen?) human sourcebooks to look forward to.

We also managed a number of Torchbearer sessions in the beginning of the year. I still love the Burning Wheel family of games but they are tricky to introduce fresh to a new group and almost require you to read the book and really buy into the philosophy. You could probably get to that point where it "clicked" for everyone through play alone as well, but I think it would require more than the three sessions we played. As it were I loved it, Jacob... disliked it and the others were somewhere between the two of us. However, I feel that they have barely scratched the surface of what it means to play Torchbearer (or any BWHQ game for that matter) and although I'll likely let it rest for a bit, I'm intent on bringing out either Torchbearer or Mouse Guard for some mini-campaigning next year. And speaking of Mouse Guard, you know there's a new edition in the works, right? :D

Miniature Games

I think mini gaming took the largest hit in 2014 as it is probably the most time and preparation intensive of the three categories. Still, I did play some games at least!

Deadzone comes in at number one as we played it a number of times during the spring. The core game is good fun and the Enforcers and Plague are well balanced. Unfortunately the other races we've tried so far are less so and the campaign game, which was by far the largest reason for my investment, turned out to be lackluster and plain. I hate to seem so negative, especially as there is a good, fun core experience in Deadzone, but I will likely try to get rid of most of my Deadzone stuff except for maybe the Enforcers so I have something I can pull out when in the right mood. Still, I'll be sure to play it some more before that... as soon as I actually receive my (long delayed) Enforcers.

The other miniature game played was of course my old workhorse, Infinity. The reason this hasn't been my top played miniature game every year is that no one in my local group played it. Me and Anders started out at the same time, but he abandoned it soon after and although I'll try to inspire him with the new edition I really don't see it happening. On the other hand Claes has just invested in a Haqqislam force and seeing as he's one of my primary gaming opponents I'm hopeful that Infinity will see play a lot more in 2015. But now I'm getting ahead of myself... :)

You might wonder what happened to X-Wing and Dust Warfare. To be honest I had to double check when it looked like I hadn't played a single game of X-Wing in 2014, but it's actually true! Even though I got both the rebel transport and the Tantive IV we haven't played with either of them. I'll simply have to blame it on the deployment of the baby and make sure to do better next year. Dust Warfare is pretty much in the same state as last year; I'd love to play it more but Anders is waiting on his Babylon kickstarter stuff and we still haven't tried the new Dust Tactics Battlefied rules. Although they look decent enough I'm pretty happy with Dust Warfare. Again, we need to try them out of course, but if I find myself not really enjoying them as much as Warfare I'll simply call my collection complete and keep playing the old rules with what I have.



So that was my analogue gaming in 2014! I'm guessing 2015 will see a little less gaming now that the proto-gamer is hanging around. Still, after a mostly game free four months in Japan I will be literally jonesing for it when I get back! More on next year's games in the Future - 2015 post!

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December Releases for Infinity!

 

Seeing as it's Christmas CB has been kind enough to give us an extra fat month of releases! Sure one of them was up for sale at Gencon, but still. :)

If the images look a little different that's because the third edition of the game (N3) has finally hit the wild and CB have updated the Infinity website to go with it. The blue that has accompanied the game since 2005 has been replaced by more muted colours that I feel at least gives the website a more modern look. The quickstart rules are of course available for new players and, to everyones great surprise, CB made the full rules available this week as well! A great decision as we're all now on equal footing no matter if we pre-ordered or not. I've been reading through the new rules of course and will post my first impressions of them later on. The Infinity Army (builder) has yet to catch up with the new edition but we should see an update within the next couple of months. Oh, and I have yet to find a good gallery of all the minis, like the old site had, which is a shame as they really help sell the game.

So anyway, let's have a look at the new releases!

As a long time Yu Jing player my heart skipped a beat when I saw the new Hac Tao. You remember me complaining that the Janissary from last month looked way to thin? No problem with that here as the Hac Tao looks like a man sized tank (as he should!). The recent Yu Jing HI releases has really set a new standard of making them the larger-than-life units they should be in my eyes; imposing and powerful looking. While I quite liked the old Hac Tao design (although talk about too thin!) this update really adds a lot of detail. I especially like the chest plate and the backpack looking thing. The pose is nothing too exciting but then again he certainly looks like he knows what he's doing! This is a model I need. The sooner the better! Oh, and I'm glad I didn't get the lat HMG release... :D

When I read the Hac Tao was being released I was certain that it would be my pick of the month, and then this Ariadna Kazak Spetsnazs shows up and blows me away! I really liked the Spetsnazs Sniper from a few months back (will get as a Sectorial when Acheron Falls drops!) and this one is even better. I mean... just look at this guy! The whole retro yet near-future vibe just works. The armour and the pack looks great and I love the kneepads and gloves but what pulls the whole mini together is the gasmask that has a great design that I look forward to painting. Of course, the old school Ariadnan shotgun doesn't hurt. In game these guys work either with Ambush Camouflage or as Parachutists (this loadout being the latter) and have a solid statline and two great skills in Marksmanship L2 meaning shock ammo and no cover mods, and Martial Arts L2 allowing him to sneak around the battlefield quietly. They are a little pricey for light infantry at 31+ points but come with a great toolkit for destruction.

This was the special Bootleg version of ALEPH Penthesilea released at Gencon and now available to the rest of the dirty masses. It's basically Penny if she'd had a part in Easy Rider. I think it's a great looking miniatures (I've rambled on about the new Kum bikes before), I especially like the hair, however given the choice I actually prefer the original figure. She just looks more... dangerous. Still, it's cool to see a somewhat more casual looking ALEPH mini. In game she's (still up in the air since we don't know her N3 stats yet, but...) a diverse toolbox that can fill various fast-attack roles. She'll certainly be a key piece in my fledgling Assault Subsection.

The first TAG resculpt is upon us and fittingly, as it's the oldest TAG in Infinity, it is the PanO Squalo Amoured Cavalry Heavy Lancer. This is certainly a great upgrade from the old sculpt and probably my favourite PanO TAG, next to the Jotum. However it is spoiled somewhat by that very awkward looking gun. Or rather, the gun itself is not the problem, but having the stock go up over the shoulder like that and have the HGL integrated in it just looks strange in so many ways! I guess having it like this means the HMG can be used one handed (only) but it also means it can't traverse as freely and the HGL won't be able to do independent targeting. I think it's great that they actually show the HGL, but this just seems like bad design from a practical standpoint. If I were to build the Squalo I'd cut off the HGL and mount it on the left shoulder in the style of VOTOMS or Heavy Gear.

The odd design also leads to the problem of what to do with that free hand, hence the "fist of doom" that has become somewhat of a meme in the Infinity community lately (see the Jannisary from lat month for another example). In N3 the weapon loadout of many TAGs have changed and many of them have got heavy pistols as backup weapons. The Squalo is no exception with an AP heavy pistol that I think would have been a cool to have modeled in the left hand instead of a fist. Still, apart from that awkward looking gun I think it's a sweet model!

Now here's something completely new for N3, the Tohaa Rasail Boarding Team! We've seen Chaksas before but these seem a little better armoured. The Tohaa handlers(?) are both neat looking models, I like the female especially, and the Chaksa look suitably badass. I'm guessing these teams will be similar to the PanO Auxbots as they each pack a heavy flamethrower (look out for friendly fire!). Nice looking models to be sure, but to me most of the Tohaa look so similar to each other. Maybe it's their lingering newness, I don't know. Still. Cool looking. :)

We round off December with another massive Morat! This time a Sogarat with HMG. You get the Feurbach version in the new Morat starter box and this is a resculpt of the HMG release from a couple of years ago. The old one was pretty big but this guy is even bigger and on a 40mm base! I think he's great looking and the armour detailing is spectacular. The new blocky Morat weaponry has quickly become some of my favourite in Infinity but the one thing I'm not all that keen on is the axe. First off it looks really awkward to use with just one hand and the lack of details on the blade (yes, a design decision but a bad one in my eyes) makes it look like a movie prop rather than a deadly weapon. Still, I'm nitpicking - this guy is pretty damn cool!


A good month! I think the Squalo could have been my favourite sculpt, but the weird gun spoils it so I'll have to pick the Spetsnazs followed by the Hac Tao. I'm currently reading through the N3 rules and should have some first impressions up on the blog soon. Oh, and merry christmas and all that! :D

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Review of The Battle of Five Armies

As I mentioned earlier I wanted to start the Season of the Ring with a bang, so what could be better than a big boxed, extravagant board game like The Battle of Five Armies?! Ares Games were kind enough to send me a review copy of the game and here are my thoughts on it...

The game was released earlier this year by the guys at Ares Games who made War of the Ring and Age of Conan among others. You can immediately see that it shares a lot of things with its older sibling War of Ring, both mechanically and visually, however it is certainly a different more focused experience. In the wake of the success of War of the Ring Nexus Games released Battles of the Third Age back in 2006 which was both an expansion to the base game as well as a completely separate game where you could play out the sieges of Helm's Deep and Minas Tirith in greater detail. It has been out of print since Nexus went under but The Battle of Five Armies is a kind of reboot of the latter sub-games. Of course, being its own game it has been expanded and improved upon with a lot of mechanics dedicated to the specific battle.

What You Get in the Box

I forgot to take a picture of the contents so borrowed this great image by Uthoroc at bgg. This is the German version mind.

Let's just take a quick look at what you get in the box. First off there's the very nice looking board. It's about half the size of the War of the Ring (WotR) board and features art similar to the second edition. That is to say, it doesn't feature the semi-parchment style of the map from the first edition of WotR, but rather the more naturalistic art of the second edition. The region border lines are also clearly drawn, but only in white. The different territories on the map are instead colour coded in the small terrain icon in the middle of each region. There's the Valley with the Ruins of Dale in the middle, the mountains and hills of the Southern Spur and Eastern Bank to the south and north and the Broken Lands to the east. Clearly marked are Mustering Points for the Shadow Armies, as well as fortifications and settlements for the Free People. At bottom right there's the Fate track that works as a timer for the game and also signifies when certain Free People characters enters play. All in all the map is both gorgeous to look at and very functional in play. I think it finds a nice balance between the boards of the first and second edition of WotR.

Then there's a bunch of cards. Some larger ones with stats for the different heroes of the game as well as the eagles and bats, and the rest regular board game sized cards making up a few different decks. There is a deck of event cards, two decks of story cards (Shadow and Free People's respectively), a thin deck of fate Cards and a bunch of maneuver cards. An assortment of tokens, using the same iconography as in WotR and The One Ring roleplaying game (also by Franceso Nepitelli of course) rounds out the cardstock portion of the game. Then there are some fate dice, some regular dice and two well made reference sheets.

Oh, and a mountain of plastic of course! Hehe! Most of the sculpts are being reused from WotR and Battles of the Third age with "only" the bats, eagles and characters being unique to The Battle of Five Armies. The characters in particular look great and are, in my opinion, a clear step up from the character minis in War of the Ring. I'm especially fond of Thranduil, Gandalf and Bolg! The regular army figures holds a decent standard and has a nice pre-movie vibe to them that in a paradoxical way feels fresh in this day of mass-marketed Tolkien. The painter in me really wants to take the brush to these minis as that can enhance their look even more. There's just so much other stuff to paint!

The rulebook is written in a clear and concise way which is a joy to read! It's certainly nice to see that Ares have learnt from their mistake with the original WotR rulebook that was a bit fuzzy in places and not very well organized. After a few turns you won't really have to consult the rulebook at all since all the pertinent information is included on the reference sheets.

The Rules

Like usual I will only provide a cursory glance at the rules as the actual rulebook is available online for those who really want to get down into the nitty-gritty.

A central part of the game is the Fate track in the lower right corner as that basically works as a timer. If it ever reaches 15 the Free People win the game and if the Shadow player manage to get 10 points or more by capturing settlements and fortifications she wins. The Free People can also win by killing the Shadow leader, Bolg, or if the Shadow player hasn't managed to get six points by the time Béorn enters play. Speaking of which, during setup you place a number Free People characters at different spaces on the Fate track and when the Fate marker reaches each respective number that characters becomes ready to play into the game. What all this means of course is that the Shadow player is working under pressure and really need to get to it before more reinforcements arrive for the Free Peoples. Bilbo, who is more of a utility character, doesn't seem to dangerous but when Béorn or the eagles turn up you wish you'd pressed the attack!

The first turn. The Shadow player is advancing and you can clearly see the facedown Recruitment tokens.

A turn starts with the Free Peoples player activating up to three of his general characters, to ready their special abilities, and placing Leadership tokens on the board. After this the Shadow player draws one or more Fate tokens to see how far the Fate track advances. These two things are connected as the Shadow player get to draw as many tokens as the number of activated generals, but has to use the last one drawn. This makes for a neat push your luck mechanic (for both players) as the more generals activated the greater the chance the Shadow player has to draw a tile with a low number on it. After this it's time for the Leadership phase of the Shadow player who gets to add Leadership tokens to her armies as well as add Great Bats to the board.

After these preparations comes the Action Round which is the meat and potatoes of the game where both players get to roll their respective Action Dice and take turns using them to move their armies around. The dice are the same as in War of the Ring and anyone who has played that game will have a rough grasp on how they're used. Of course, with a much narrower focus comes a bunch of changes as well. Basically the dice can be used to move and attack with armies, move heroes or armies lead by a hero, muster new troops or play Event or Story cards. There are several nuances that differentiate how the different dice are used; for example, while both the Army and the Character symbol allow you to move and attack with armies the Character symbol allow you to move two regions first, instead of one. On the other hand, the Army symbol allow you to move two of your armies one region each (without attacking) or can be used for a devastating combined attack where you use two of your armies to attack a single enemy army.

The goblins break through the mountain pass and spill down the side of the mountain!

The Muster symbol is used to flip Recruitment tokens that are already on the board, or to Rally (heal) your armies. Recruitment tokens is another critical part of the game and come in three flavours: Dwarves & Men, Elves and Shadow. The board is seeded from the start with a number of tokens but during actual play the only way to get more out is to use certain character abilities or some Event/Story cards, meaning you can never count on a steady stream of reincorcements. The Shadow player has it a little easier in this regard as Bolg has a way of getting Recruitment tokens fairly reliably (still, he's going to need them!).

Besides normal Mustering the Shadow player can also use the Lidless Eye result to build up his goblin armies who are scaling and/or tunneling through the mountains. These mountain passes are closed when the game begins, but when there are five or more goblins in a pass it is broken through and they are free to start rampaging down into the valley! It's a very satisfying feeling when you suddenly can attack from almost within the midst of the enemy. Hehe!

Finally there's the Event symbol that you can use to draw or play cards. You can play any card with the Event symbol, but all cards also have at least one alternative symbol you can use to play that specific card. For example, if the card allow you to place Recruitment tokens it's a fair bet that it could be played with either the Event or the Muster symbol. Event cards, which are common to both players, usually have fairly generic effects like allowing a bit of extra movement or bonus to rallying while the faction specific Story cards often have more powerful effects. Of course, the Event cards can also be used during battle (more on that below).

After both players have used all of their Action dice you do a bit of board cleanup and start another turn.

Battles

Some men of the lake fire at the oncoming hordes using the great looking measuring tool! We saw this kind of measuring tools back when Android was released but I haven't seen it again until now. Love it though! Oh, and for those who know the game, yes this is an illegal move as the Lakemen aren't in hill or mountain terrain. :)

Since combat is a bit more involved in this game than the Risk-like style of War of the Ring I thought it warranted a section of its own. An army can consist of up to five miniatures plus eventual Characters and Leadership tokens. You move them around the board using your Action dice (and you can of course combine or split armies) and when adjacent to an enemy army you can attack it. Each of the different units in your army has their own specific Maneuver card with their stats, Favoured Terrain icon and Maneuver ability. At the start of a battle you check the terrain type in the defenders region and the side who has the most units with that as their Favoured Terrain get to draw an extra Event card. This is not a huge thing, but nonetheless a nice way to incorporate a feeling that terrain matters in the game.

After terrain superiority has been resolved you take all your Event cards (who, beside the Event text, have Maneuver effects in battle as well), the Maneuver card for each different participating unit and finally the Regroup card. Both players simultaneously reveal their chosen Maneuver card and then dice are rolled to determine winner. If you use an Event card as your Maneuver card it usually has some bonus like +1 to hit or roll two extra dice. Using a units Maneuver card on the other hand makes it possible to use that unit's Maneuver ability, if you manage to hit with them.

So both players roll a number of  dice according to their unit stats (normally it's one die per unit, except for Great Orcs and Dwarf Veterans who roll two) up to a maximum of five and each roll of 5+ is a hit. You also get to re-roll one die for each point of Leadership in your army, with Characters providing 0-3 and Leadership tokens 1. Of course, since it can be important to see which of your units actually hit there are both white and black dice provided with white being the regular and black the special Maneuver dice. If you roll a hit with a black die you have triggered the Maneuver ability of that unit.

The final round in a battle where both armies ended up being decimated to the last man!
A good example of when it's better to retreat and fight another time.

For each hit a Damage token is placed next to the army and after the rolls have been completed you check for casualties. As long as the Damage tokens are equal to or less than the number of units in your army you're ok and don't have to take casualties. If you have more tokens than units you have to remove tokens and units on a two for one basis. This means that most fresh armies can take a bit of punishment but when the Damage tokens start mounting up things can get very bad very quickly.

After resolving casualties you have the option to retreat or rout. A retreat can only be done if you played the Regroup card as your Maneuver card (which also allows you to pick up all the spent unit Maneuver cards you might have used) otherwise it becomes a rout. In a retreat you take a little bit of extra damage and then get to move away, a rout on the other hand can be horribly bloody. However, something I've learnt while playing is the importance of knowing when to break off to fight another day. Just going at it, grinding your armies into the ground will most likely loose you the game.

Let's do a little example...

Say I'm attacking with an army made up of two Orcs, a Warg Rider, a Great Orc and one Leadership token. I start by checking the terrain and, joy of joys, it's a swamp! Orcs have swamps as their Favoured terrain and the Great Orc counts any terrain as favoured and since I'm fighting a bunch of puny humans who don't like swamps I get to draw an extra Event/Maneuver card. 

In the first round of combat I play the Orc's Maneuver card meaning I roll two white dice and two (one for each Orc) black. I roll two hits, one black and one white and after the Leader re-roll I manage to get another hit. Having succeded with at least one black die means that I trigger the Orc Maneuver ability which is to add another Leadership token to the army (for more re-roll goodness in the next round of combat).

So I inflict two hits on my opponent who, with the help of a nasty Maneuver card, inflict five hits on me! Since I only have four units in my army I need to take casualties. Removing one of the Orcs allow me to remove two Damage tokens which takes me down to three - which is equal to or less than the number of units I have left in the army. 

Hmm... things are looking grim for the next round as I will have to take casualties from any hits inflicted while the Free Peoples army only have three Damage tokens and five units. I put down the Regroup card in the hopes of making a tactical retreat before my troops are turned into pin-cushions...

Attention to Detail

Rallying his dwarf warriors Dáin Ironfoot rush to the ford to confront the goblins attacking from the western mountain pass.

So those are the main rules of the game. There are of course a number of neat details like fortifications and attacking uphill or across a ford. The different characters also provide a number of different gameplay options. From Gandalf's magic barrage to Bilbo's damage soaking ability to Thranduil's ability to order missile troops to fire on distant enemies. Then there's Béorn of course, who's pretty much an army in his own right. While the other Characters work as leaders to support your troops Béorn just walks out there and tears it up himself. You load him up with a bunch of Rage tokens as he enters the game (and more can be added through card play) that works both as health and action points to activate him.

The eagles and great bats also work a little differently from the rest of the units. The great bats are placed in a territory and can help the Shadow player move his armies or inflict extra damage in battle in the region with bats in it, by removing a bat each time they are used. The eagles on the other hand work basically as mobile artillery can can inflict quite brutal damage on the Shadow armies!

Thorin Oakenshield (see right) also bears some special mention. He enters the game when the Fate track reaches six and is placed at the Front Gate (of the Lonely Mountain). There are a number of Fate cards that buff Thorin and he can be a very powerful fighting force if paired with an army, problem is if you move him outside the Front Gate the fortification counts as broken which of course, is a bad thing. Still with the right cards and the right situation it might very well be worth it!

My Thoughts

Alright, so this is what you've actually been waiting for. The moment I share my inspired wisdom! Hehe! Well, as the long time readers of Fire Broadside might have noticed my board game preferences have shifted somewhat, in later years. It used to be either sci-fi or fantasy games with lots of plastic that took up most of my time, but these days I think I've appreciate board games from a more holistic perspective and embrace games with themes or components I would have shied away from five years ago.

However this does, of course, not mean that there isn't room for some bombastic plastic spectaculars! War of the Ring have long been a favourite of mine, as have Age of Conan, and The Battle of Five Armies feels like it's another game from the same designers to add to the list. Besides sharing the Action dice mechanic all three games also stand out as being extremely faithful to their respective setting and made by a bunch of guys who are really into it. Their grasp of the world and "feeling" of Tolkien is, perhaps more than the actual gameplay, the best part of the games as they are as far away you can get from cheap moneygrabs like Lord of the Rings Risk or (*shiver*) Monopoly. These games are made from the heart by fans for fans, and that is awesome.

Having secured the western ford Dáin has moved back to camp but things are looking dire as Bolg is moving forward and reinforcements are on the way from the Broken Lands. Perhaps a dire gamble is the best chance the Free Peoples have...

Of course, it doesn't hurt that the gameplay is good! The Battle of Five Armies is very much a wargame so I was happy to read the rules and see how fighting battles was actually fairly detailed. With a more narrow focus than WotR this was a given, but even so I find the battle system immensely fun when we play. I've read some who think the battles are too long or too finicky, but I can't agree with that at all. In a given turn there usually aren't that many battles anyway so it makes sense to make them important events. In WotR the Risk-style combat resolution works (or is necessary) since there can be many different battles each round. Here each battle is given the attention it deserves!

Planning your battles and trying to figure out where to fight first and how to deplete your opponent's hand of Event cards is a fun exercise and the ever present risk of getting your army trounced in the first round forces you to consider potential retreats as well. Even though there is a lot of dice rolling involved, and you can run into some really bad luck in individual battles, my feelings is that this pretty much evens out over time. Besides with judicious use of Maneuver cards and Leadership you should be able to mitigate the worst of the bad luck.

Where I think luck might play a larger factor is the Action dice. While there are a number of different ways to get around a bad roll of the Action dice it can still hit you hard if you don't manage to roll reasonably balanced during a turn. Of course, rolling all Event symbols (to take an extreme example) will give you a killer hand of cards for next turn and there is always things you can do with the dice. However a bad roll might make you loose momentum. I don't have a problem with as this is a dice game where luck is a factor to begin with, and it's for the most part something you can manage or mitigate.

While Thorin Oakenshield is struck by Gold Sickness and refuse to leave the fortified Front Gate, Dáin rush head on into combat with the army lead by Bolg. In a series of brilliant maneuvers he manage to cut his way through the Orcs and Great Orcs surrounding the Goblin King and in a mighty blow crash his hammer down on his sneering face. The battle is over and it's time to let Crom count the dead. No wait, wrong game!

There is a great balance between the two sides as the Shadow has the brute force on her side while the Free Peoples have their many different characters that support their smaller forces. There is also the race aspect of the game the Shadow really needs to press on before the Fate track rise too high and scary stuff like the eagles and Béorn arrive. I think it's critical to get Bolg out early so he can start reinforcing the Shadow armies as soon as possible. While you can usually take a fortification and a couple of settlements with your starting forces plus goblins you start to run out of steam just as Thorin enters play and badly need the reinforcements that only Bolg can provide.

The Free Peoples player of course has the opposing role and want to delay the attacking hordes until hard hitting reinforcements can arrive. The first character that becomes available on the Fate track is Bilbo who is not a great fighter but can really help with the delay part of the Free Peoples plan. Using the Ring he can absorb a number of hits, although a limited number of times. He also has the ability to be in the right place at the right time. Militarily the Shadow is stronger, so the Free Peoples really have to make sure to utilize their characters to the fullest. The ranged attacks by Gandalf and Thranduil can really turn the tide when used at the right moment and the ability of Dain Ironfoot and Thranduil to place Reinforcement tokens is also critical to not become completely overrun early in the game.

Bottom line is that I really like The Battle of Five Armies. Being a great Tolkien fan certainly helps to get you interested, but there's a solid game engine running the thing that is a nice blend of strategy, tactics and a bit of luck. Just like the rest of the games by Ares The Battle of Five Armies is gorgeous to look at and the visuals are designed in a way to make it all blend in and fit together in a way that also speaks to the creator's familiarity with the theme. Of course, this is reflected in War of the Ring and The One Ring roleplaying game as well. Our games have yet to reach the 90 minutes stated on the box, as they have run 120-150 minutes, but with experience I could see this number shrink.

Is it a replacement for War of the Ring? No, this is a very different experience that nonetheless scratches a similar itch. Although I love WotR it can be hard to get to the table simply because the play time is quite long. The Battle of Five Armies is certainly different, but has enough common elements to fill you over until you have time for the full thing. That is not to say that it is the lesser game of the two, but it is quicker. The guys at Ares Games have hinted that we might very well see updated reprints of the original Battles of the Third Age so we have the sieges of Helm's Deep and Minas Tirith to look forward to as well!

So... do you like Tolkien? Do you like wargames toward the lighter end of the spectrum? Do you feel the need to send giant eagles to rip poor little goblins to shreds? Then this is the game for you!

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Season of the Ring!

Being relocated for a few months I don't really have access to all my games and miniatures so I've been pondering what to write about here on Fire Broadside. The answer came to me when I played my first game of The Battle of Five Armies and recalled that I have some catching up to do!

I have reviewed the core book (first edition) and the Loremaster's Screen but since then there have been a number of really cool books released for The One Ring roleplaying game from Cubicle 7. They've also released a small storytelling board game called Hobbit Tales from Green Dragon Inn and, as I mentioned above, I've got my grubby paws on Ares Games' spectacular looking The Battle of Five Armies board game. All of this combined in my head into what I've chosen to call the Season of the Ring! 

During the winter and spring months I will post reviews of all the Cubicle 7 books released so far (excluding the new core book that I have yet to acquire), as well as a few Lord of the Rings board games that I enjoy.

Wanting to start with a bang I've decided that the first review to hit the site will be the one for The Battle of Five Armies as it is such a visual spectacle to behold! Next up will be the Rivendell source book for The One Ring that is being released right now. After that I will probably do the reviews in order of release, starting with Tales from Wilderland, interspersed with some board gaming now and then.

I'll keep this post updated with the reviews I've written so far so keep this page bookmarked for ease of reference.

The One Ring Reviews:

• The One Ring: Adventures Over the Edge of the Wild (first edition)
• Tales From Wilderland
• The Loremaster's Screen
• The Heart of the Wild
• The Darkening of Mirkwood
• Rivendell

Other LotR game reviews:

• The Battle of Five Armies
• Hobbit Tales From Green Dragon Inn

Time permitting I might add things to the list. I would like to write reviews for FFG's Lord of the Rings The Card Game and Middle-Earth Quest but I'll add them only when I know I have the time to do it properly.

So there you have it - an introduction to the Season of the Ring!

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October and November Releases for Infinity!

Hello there dear Mayanauts! Now that things have calmed down a bit and we're set for the next few months here in Japan I thought I'd get back up to speed. First off I wanted to catch up on my Infinity reporting. There has been all kinds of neat stuff being revealed about N3, but I simply don't have time to cover it all so refer you instead to the likes of Datasphere, Mayacast and Beasts of War for that. Instead I'll try to keep up with the new releases.

I missed October, but since there are only two November releases I thought I might just as well do a post with both months releases! Let's start with November...

Kasym Beg, super bad-ass Kum Chieftan really looks the part and would fit right in in an early Robert Rodriguez movie. Following up on the revamped Kum bikers from a couple of months ago we now have their most renowned chieftan. Like I said then the model is absoulutely spectacular, but I can't but help miss the old monobikes. Still, this guy would be high on my list if I played Haqqislam! We don't have stats for him yet, but if he's anything like his predecessor Izzat Beg (who he killed!) he'll be a nice bag of tricks to add to your force.

Alright, now here's the really big drop of November; a totally revamped Combined Army Starter box! This might get a little lengthy. We got to see some sneak peeks earlier in the year and now here we are. The Exrah have gone the way of the Squats and their successors are something completely new. Unidron Batroids are the new (remote) line troops and are fairly similar to the Ikadron that I really like. These are a bit thinner (no Baggage) and comes with the awesome sounding Plasma Carbine! While not as devastating as a proper Plasma Rifle I'm glad to see more plasma for the Combined Army as that is a kind of signature of theirs. Then we have two Sygmaa who, who are Tohaa who are collaborating with the EI. The Fracta is some kind of drop troop sporting the neat "wings" first introduced with the sepsitorized Ko Dali (*sob*). The Maakrep Trackers Unit carries a spectacular looking HMG (first in a vanilla starter? I think so) and the name suggests to me that it will have some kind of visor for camo hunting. Both great looking models that still have something a little Tohaa-esque to them but with conventional armour and some cool looking helmets. Finally there's the Umbra Legate that is, apparently, a martial arts trooper that is second in command in the armies of the EI. Second under the Charontids I assume. This guy looks almost stereotypically evil and would fit in perfectly in a Star Wars movie if you just changed his sword into a lightsabre. Again a very nice looking mini that has grown on me a lot since I first saw it.

Now, while this box is a humongous improvement over the original I'm still a little sad to see the more inhuman aspects of the Combined Army disappear. While many of the old Exrah sculpts had a clear man in a rubber suit-feel to them I certainly think they could have been re-imagined and resculpted to great effect. Sure, there will always be the great Tyranid spectre looming over any non-humanoid alien miniatures, but I'm sure CB could have made something unique with the Exrah. Instead we now have simply another army of almost-humans that don't differ all that much from the forces of the Human Sphere. Don't get me wrong, the actual models in the new starter are pewter perfection, but I still think this was a lost opportunity. Still, CB usually know what they're doing and I can feel those Unidrons beckoning me...

Now, on to October!

Yay, new Dog-Warriors for Ariadna! We have seen renders of these and the finished models don't disappoint! Like the Antipode pack the new dog-warriors have totally updated the look and even fairly recent releases like the Cameronian and McMurrough pales in comparison. While I like the slightly more alien looking Antipodes better these are still damn cool models, There's some really neat detailing, like that face scars matching the dog-warrior and dogface, and good weapon scaling making the chainguns look like pistols in the hands of the dog-warriors. At 28 points for a 6-4 superjumping monster with three wounds I think they're a steal! Of course, things might change any day now with N3. :)

Next up we have a Haqqislam Janissaries with HMG. Now here's a model that has been updated to the new 3D-printing age that didn't really need it. In fact, I would even say that the older models actually look better than this new iteration. The design is as great as ever, but I don't like how thin it has become - the guy inside must be built like a stick figure! Then again, even though it doesn't look as good as the old ones it's still a very cool model and the new Haqq HMG is quickly becoming my favourite of the entire range. In game he's a fairly standard HI with the bonus of being religious.

Time for another re-pack! This time has come to the Japanese with the JSA Support Pack. Still there is something new here as CB has blessed us with two distinct miniatures for the Tokusetsu Kohei and Tokusetsu Eisei. Yay! The old models look like always and the new Eisei is a great match for her engineer colleague. She seems to be sporting the autoinjector gun that has been rumoured to make an appearance in N3 and a neat looking nurse's hat. Nice flowing hair brings a little bit of dynamism to an otherwise fairly static model and overall she looks great! And of

course CB will be selling her separately for a while so that people who own the rest of the models in the pack can get her. Here's a separate picture of the Eisei as well.

Next up is another Tohaa Kotail, this time with a Spitfire. Like the first one this sports a short jacket with a hood over the symbiotic armour and has a nice pose that suggests movement without overdoing it. Very cool! The Tohaa Spitfire also has a great design which doesn't hurt. I mentioned last time how scary these guys seem so I won't repeat myself. Just... keep a close eye on them!

Finally we have something different in the Warcor. Up until now it has always been GoGo Marlene on site, reporting from the combat zone, but now finally we have something that look more suitable to the task. Doing running miniatures like this is always a gamble but here I think CB pulls it off reasonably well, especially looking at the middle picture. It certainly looks like a guy who is trying to keep up with some elite soldiers while at the same time trying to avoid a hot firey death! He has some great detailing like the shoulder bag, flak vest and helmet. The little drone is pretty cool as well and something I'd be happy to add to my table even though it has no in-game function. Warcors can of course be used in Campaign Paradiso to help advance your army/SpecOps.


Aaaand, that's it for another couple of weeks! Of all these releases the Combined Army starter is my clear favourite, followed by Kasym and the Warcor. I'm really excited for December though as we'll get to see the new Hac Tao! Not to mention the release of N3 of course.

In other news my friend Claes has just decided to get into Infinity and got himself a solid Haqqislam starting force. This is great news for me as I haven't had any Infinity players in my personal gaming group and I think it will help me get to actually play a lot more! :D

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WANDERERS

Still alive, still alive! Just busy with the proto-gamer and preparations for a four month stay in Japan. I have a bunch of material that will be hitting the site in the coming months, as well as the regular Infinity news. However, today I simply wanted to share this amazing short by Erik Wernquist.

Similarly to the series of Sagan Series of shorts Erik has used Carl Sagan's voice as he's reading from Pale Blue Dot (if you haven't already get it and read it NOW), but instead of simply piecing together existing vidoes he has gone a step further and created his own vision of what our future as a true space faring race might look like. Apparently inspired by Kim Stanley Robinson's 2312 and other hard sci-fi works of fiction, it's incredibly well done and resonates with me on a deep level as this is exactly the kind of stuff I see in my head when imagining our future.

So turn down the lights, crank up the volume and play this baby in fullscreen! Then head over to Erik's site for some beautiful stills with commentary.

Oh, and of course it's extra neat that it's made in Sweden. ;)

Alright fellow space farers! I'll be back again as soon as I've acclimatized in Japan (probably by the end of the week or so).

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