Category: Upvoted

I played a demo of this at Dice Tower Con, many thanks to BGG user VikingBerserker who set this up and brought an incredible prototype complete with 3D printed miniatures. Here’s my take on the game:

It feels like a Civ game – you really do feel like you are growing an empire adding troops, caravans, markets, and cities as well as taking over new territories and battling with opponents. You will generate resources, conduct trade, tax your cities, and spend your income (tax and resources) as you see fit. The only thing missing is a tech tree which you get a slight feel of from the heroes/wonders you can purchase as they grant special abilities to you. Granted there isn’t a tree but you can upgrade your empire.

This isn’t a war game – the battles are important but they are not the game, they are quick and simple. You roll a die (land or sea depending on where the battle takes place) for each unit you have in the contested area, add the totals together and divide by 5 to get your hit(s) count. Your opponent does the same and then you remove units based on the number of hits. You only go through one or two rounds of combat even if the result is undecided per turn. This will depend on the order of who goes first in the combat phase of the round which is determined by the military leader. Essentially if the attacker is first in the combat phase then combat will be conducted on during the attackers turn (once) and then on the defenders turn (once), if the defender has already taken his military turn then combat will only happen once on the defenders turn.

A lot this game is in the choices the leaders make – being able to choose the player order for each phase is great for the leader. Going first in a phase can give you opportunities to buy heroes before other players, going later gives you the opportunity to see what x other players do before you make your choices.

For example in the game I played I was the trade leader and one player had a good shot at winning by claiming her 5th hero/wonder. She needed 10 different resources to do so (of which she had 6 or 7 already from her own) and if I allowed enough trading to be done she would have had enough. Instead of giving her the opportunity to win I put a low trade token down (trade tokens determine how many goods each player has to put up for trade each round) hoping she wouldn’t have enough options to choose from to get all the different resources she needed. She was not able to trade enough resources to get the win and I was able to get myself closer to winning, however in the combat phase that round someone else claimed the win by a different victory condition.

I found the game to be quite enjoyable, you definitely have to pay close attention to what others are doing and if you are a leader in one area you need to make wise choices that give you the best advantage. There is room for a lot of table talk in this game, trying to make deals with other players (especially leaders) however nothing in the game forces you to hold to any agreements you make and actually exchanging things in game is not allowed. For example you can come to an agreement with a player controlling an empire next to you to not attack each other is legit but not binding. I truly believe there will be a large number of tough choices to make each game and no two games will be alike.

I am glad I’m backing the game and will continue to do so as the game certainly appears to play quickly, gives you the feel of a longer civ game, and is adding so many stretch goals the value for you dollar here is quite high.

This week’s game is Legends of Andor

• BGG Link: Legends of Andor
• Designer: Michael Menzel
• Publishers: 999 Games, Albi, Arclight, Devir, Fantasmagoria, Fantasy Flight Games, Galakta, Giochi Uniti, IELLO, Kaissa Chess & Games, KOSMOS, Piatnik, Zvezda
• Year Released: 2012
• Mechanics: Area Movement, Co-operative Play, Dice Rolling, Variable Player Powers
• Number of Players: 2 – 4
• Playing Time: 90 minutes
• Expansions: Die Legenden von Andor: Das letzte Lagerfeuer, Die Legenden von Andor: Der Kampf um Cavern, Die Legenden von Andor: Der Ruf der Skrale, Die Legenden von Andor: Der Sternenschild, Die Legenden von Andor: Die Eskorte des Königs, Die Legenden von Andor: Die Jagd, Die Legenden von Andor: Die Reise in den Norden, Die Legenden von Andor: Die Wunschbrunnen, Die Legenden von Andor: Neue Helden, Legends of Andor: Liberating the Mine, Legends of Andor: The Gifts of the Tree of Chants, Legends of Andor: The Stranger, Legends of Andor: Wolf Warrior, Las Leyendas de Andor: Los Héroes de Córdoba
• Ratings:
  • Average rating is 7.36896 (rated by 4071 people)
  • Board Game Rank: 245, Thematic Rank: 65

Description from Boardgamegeek:

Game description from the publisher:

Legends of Andor is a cooperative adventure board game for two to four players in which a band of heroes must work together to defend a fantasy realm from invading hordes. To secure Andor’s borders, the heroes will embark on dangerous quests over the course of five unique scenarios (as well as a final scenario created by the players themselves). But as the clever game system keeps creatures on the march toward the castle, the players must balance their priorities carefully.

At the heart of Legends of Andor is its unique narrative, the linked scenarios of which tell an overarching story as the players successfully complete objectives. For each scenario, or “Legend”, a legend deck conveys the plot of an ever-unfolding tale…one in which the players are the protagonists. A wooden marker moves along the board’s legend track at key points during each scenario, triggering the draw of a new legend card, the introduction of new game-altering effects, and the advancement of the story’s plot. In the end, the players must endeavor to guide the fate of Andor through their heroic actions, bringing a happy ending to their epic fantasy tale.

Will their heroes roam the land completing quests in the name of glory, or devote themselves to the defense of the realm? Uncover epic tales of glory as you live the Legends of Andor!

Next Week: Targi

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Hi folks. So I suppose I’m late to the party but lately my favourite kind of game to play have been deck builders of a wide assortment: Trains, Arctic Scavengers, Legendary Encounters, Friday, and Rune Age. Mage Knight too, which has a tiny bit of deck building.

My main issue is I like to play solo. With Trains I play as two or three players no problem. With Arctic I play as two. Rune Age has some solo scenarios and Legendary can easily be done solo and obviously Friday.

I know about Dominion and will likely get into it one day, and I know about Thunderstone Advance but it can’t be got. Core Worlds doesn’t look like a great solo experience and Eminent Domain I didn’t enjoy butbI suspect that had more to do with the people I played with rather than the game itself.

Anyway, a quick throwaway post to ask if people would be willing to share their lesser-known, more unpopular recommendations for deck builders that can be done solo. Obliged.

I saw the link on Miniature Market first, but I am not affiliated with them in any way.

Base game with both expansions can be found here:

http://www.miniaturemarket.com/rgg515.html

Recon expansion only can be found here:

http://www.miniaturemarket.com/catalog/product/view/id/43966/s/rgg516/

The current printing of the game (the Rio Grande Edition, BGG link here: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/41933/arctic-scavengers) already includes the ‘HQ’ expansion.

The ‘Recon’ expansion (BGG link: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/42951/arctic-scavengers-recon) is new. If you don’t own the current RGG printing you can go ahead and buy the complete box which comes with the base game and both expansions.