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[JudgeDredd]

But even the basic rules are 30 odd pages.

I can't read rules very fast at all. I don't read books fast either. In fact, I don't read fast in general. I'm lucky I can read 

[Arctic Blast]

Son of a...

This looks like a war-ish game that I could actually get a sizable number of my gaming buddies to play. Looking forward to see what you guys think of it.

[bob48]

So far, I'm liking it very much indeed.

[JudgeDredd]

Yeah I unpacked all the stuff last night - it's a bloody good loooking game.

I was a bit disappointed with the coins - for some reason I was thinking they'd be metal (I think I watched a video where someone was using metal coins) - anyway - I bought some 

Other than that - high quality and punched beautifully.

[bob48]

aye, the coins are a bit 'meh' but you can get metal replacements, not that I'm that bothered. Also, much to my surprise, all the counters, with a bit of fiddling, will fit into 2 GMT counter trays trays.

..now the lid wont go right down due to all the goodies in the box :-))

[JudgeDredd]

How's the game going bob? I'm only on page 22 of the rules 

[bob48]

Really enjoying it. I'm on with the advanced rules now, as I think this will add a lot to the game (obviously). I really haven't got my head around the magic rules or the sequencing yet, so I will likely pay a visit to the BGG page where it seems we might get some guidance.

God fun  & beautiful plumage 

[bayonetbrant]

glad you're digging on it!

[bob48]

Did you say that you had it on order?

Just to let mike & JD aware - you can now download the living rules from Compass, plus in the files section on BGG is the current errata and a very handy quick reference chart.

Like any other game, there are a couple of unclear (at least, to me) rules and a one or two seeing ambiguities, but the BGG forums are pretty active and people seem willing to help; I think one of them is the developer but also the designer answers at time.

I have also seen a couple of hints of a future expansion.....................

[JudgeDredd]

I had errata in the box 

I'll have a look at BGG though.

I'm keen to get it to the table - having never played anything like this - but I'm really enjoying SAS Rogue Regiment at the moment.

[bob48]

Yeah, completely different for me too, but I'm really enjoying it. I think that the errata on BGG is a later version.

[JudgeDredd]

I've just looked and yes, it is. 

One thing I found odd was an army being weakened...there's no change to the die they roll. So the only detriment is the same as any other attack - they would be eliminated. I'm not sure (apart from being eliminated on a second hit) what the benefit of weakening an army is.

I think for me it's just the terminology. If something is weakened, I would expect to see some detriment to it's attacking ability - just through using the word "weakened". I think they should've just stayed with the word fragile, which they use for units that are "weak"...one hit kill...that's essentially what a weakened unit becomes - a one hit kill...ergo, a fragile unit.

Anyway - potato, potato - just struck me as odd not actually having any drop is stat.

[bob48]

Yeah, I thought that maybe a weakened army would have maybe one less die to roll. However, there are spells in the advanced rules that do have a sort of effect to reduce (or increase) the number of dice rolled in a combat.

[bob48]

The advanced rules give you a whole new ball game, so much so that once you have grasped the basic rules, you probably wont bother with playing any of the early scenarios just using the basic rules. So far, I've only played single map games, and there are plenty of those, plus an additional pile of 2 and 4 mappers.

However, the magic aspect does add a fair bit to the playing time, and this will obviously make a huge difference if playing with multiple players - you can have up to 6 players each playing a Kingdom, or there are rules to provide for one person playing more than one kingdom. The scope of the game is huge.

It also takes up more room than is immediately apparent. Not just the maps, but the various play mats and space for cards.

Whilst it is basically a very simple game, there are enough nuances and depth to it to make for a very good game with lots of replayability.

[JudgeDredd]

I was surprised at how easy the basic game rules were to read. I may have questions when I come to play, but the only question I had was the difference between a Strike and an Attack...I had an idea it was to do with units that had the Ambush ability - and that was confirmed on the forum.

One thing that struck me was the lack of mention of needing to roll a 5 in combat for a success. It's mentioned very early on (page 6) and it's loosely mentioned in 2 examples in the Combat sections...which struck me as odd.