\nDoom, Star Wars – Epic Duels<\/p>\n
- \n
- <\/a>Quest for the Dragonlords<\/a><\/b>
![\"box\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/Ressourcen\/questforthedragonlords_t.jpg\")
\n
\nAfter the games fair in Essen we are again starting the slow process of trying out all
\nnew releases, in our “orc games sub division” group of the Westpark Gamers the
\nfocus is – of course – on fantasy games. I was the happy buyer of the 85th (of 1000) game
\nof “Quest of the Dragonlords” for 2-4 players, which was released for the first
\ntime in Essen, and which looked like an interesting cross of Axis and
\nAllies<\/a>, Risiko<\/a> and Talisman<\/a>, , with a high “hack factor”, as the “Knights of the Dinner
\nTable<\/a>” would put it.<\/p>\nThe game presentation is absolutely stunning – hundreds of plastic figurines that depict,
\nnot surprising considering the genre, gigantic dragons, armies and fleets. 4 races
\n(Elves, Orcs, Dwarves and Barbarians) fight for the control of a fantasy kingdom that is
\nlaid out on a nice but slightly confusing (regarding mountain borderlines, which are
\nsometimes difficult to detect) map. There are some strange details: For example, Elves
\nare RED and the orcs GREEN (“tradition” usually favors the other way round).
\nAlso notably different are the special abilities of some of the races – Elves are not
\nnoted for range strikes but for hobbit like sneak attacks here, but well, if you think of
\nCeleborn’s sneaky elves in the film…. And barbarians are especially good
\nshipbuilders, well, they didn’t watch “Conan” then!<\/p>\n![\"board\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/Ressourcen\/questforthedragonlords2.jpg\")
Setup works like in “Risk” – each player takes
\nturns placing single figures until the map is full, therefore creating different starting
\nsituations. Especially important are “treasure” spaces (some on islands) and
\n“kingdoms” (gives you control of a colored region of “areas” –
\nimportant for army regeneration and income). But even “empty” spaces are
\nimportant – they more you have the more gold income you get, also not unlike Axis and
\nAllies. Another similarity to that game is the fact that armies bought at the beginning
\nof the turn are placed at the END of the turn, after hacking, so to speak.<\/p>\nGold is depicted in a very nice way – real “lumps” of gold are used, each look
\ndifferent and “natural”, a good fantasy touch. The coloring used is very
\n….well, very little water and sweat resistant, so you have to get used to become a
\ngoldfinger like ol’ King Midas.<\/p>\nPlayer “cheat sheets” are also produced lovingly – they are all different, and
\neven expensively mounted, like the game board. They feature info on spells and turn
\nsequence, there are even holes in which you can stick markers that show what spells you
\nhave (the holes are rather small for the plastic pieces used, but that is only a minor
\nqualm – use “the force”).<\/p>\nThe aforementioned setup presents a small problem of the game – there are 6
\n“kingdom” spaces to start with, and everybody wants one first, so in a 4 player
\ngame players 3 and 4 will certainly only get ONE kingdom space, the others 2. Not only do
\nthey suffer the typical “Risk”-disadvantage of moving last, they also get less
\nmoney to start with. No problem here for 3 or 2 players, though.<\/p>\nNow we start – each player’s turn has several phases: First you buy armies, then you
\nmove fleets and dragonlords (which you won’t have at start – it will be one of your
\nmain goals to find one of these very elusive guys!), then you move your quest parties
\nthrough the wastelands (two specially separated adventure areas – when you enter them,
\nyour armies become adventurers seeking fame and magical power, when you leave the
\nwastelands, your adventurers become armies again, hopefully more powerful). Then there is
\na kind of “combat move” like in “Risk” – attack to win, then you can
\nmove your victorious armies into the new territory…and beyond, if you want, to continue
\nyour attack!. Then there is a kind of “forced march”, actually a special phase
\nnot named as such, and a “transfer move”, which takes care of spaces that
\nbecame empty, but weren’t conquered. Then you collect income for your areas and place
\nthe armies you bought at the beginning.<\/p>\nThe adventures in the wastelands are much fun – they give some role-playing flair,
\nalthough everything is very simplified and basically is decided through one roll of the
\ndie, even when the “flavor-text of the adventure cards might make you think
\notherwise. But there is still some tactics involved – you have to have certain items to
\nsurvive certain adventures, and there is always a choice to make if you want to lose time
\nwith equipping or boldly go into dangerous spaces. The center space is the dragon’s
\ncave – you need a certain “Talisman” to get a dragonlord there, and that’s
\nwhat you want, really. Why? Although some of the spells and items you can find in the
\nwastelands are nifty, the dragonlord is the ultimate weapon – he can breathe fire to
\ndestroy fleets and armies, and he can teleport 10 armies ANYWHERE on the board (the rules
\ndryly note that it doesn’t make much sense to protect borders in this game – there is
\ntoo much teleportation going on here…).<\/p>\nThis is vital to ending the game more quickly than your usual fantasy monster game -the
\nplayer who kills all the other “kings” (one army piece is declared to be
\n“king” at the beginning of the game – protect it at all costs, mate!) wins the
\ngame (you can also win by conquering all kingdoms, but that is very difficult).<\/p>\nThis is always a slight problem in a game: eliminated players will have to idly sit and
\nwatch – the designers have hinted at publishing alternate victory conditions soon, which
\nwill be interesting. We usually stop when one player is eliminated in our group.<\/p>\nOur first game thus actually ended in the first round – before the 3rd and 4th player
\nhad moved at all! One player hadn’t expected that armies and fleets can practically
\nreach any space on the board, and had placed her king alone! The second game was also
\nover quite quickly, but this came through a misunderstanding from my side of the rules,
\nwhich made the attacker too powerful in a combat. But it was me who was eliminated, so I
\nwas punished for this oversight!<\/p>\nOur impression was that “Quest…” is an interesting and fun game – it might
\nnot win a prize for originality, as most game mechanisms are known from other games, but
\nthe clever combination of these elements creates a fast moving (compared to other games
\nof the fantasy battles genre- we’re not talking “Liar’s Dice” here!)
\ngame with an “epic” feeling, I guess around 3-4 hours if played correctly. The
\npresentation creates a lot of flair, you can really annoy other players, and the splatter
\nfactor is high. The price is VERY good when you look at the game components, and it is
\nclear that a lot of love went into the production. The game rules are even additionally
\npresented on CD (with animated examples) – which is pure luxury, really.<\/p>\nWestpark-Gamers say: Recommended!<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- <\/a>Cannibal
\nPygmies in the Jungle of Doom<\/a><\/b>![\"box\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/Ressourcen\/cannibal3.jpg\")
\n
\nAuch dies eine Messeneuheit, das Nachfolgespiel zu “Grave
\nRobbers from Outer Space<\/a>“. Dieses recht einfache Kartenspiel evoziert die Welt
\nder B-Filme in all ihrer Glorie, diesmal mit speziellem Augenmerk auf
\n“Dschungel”-Abenteuer-Filme (Tarzan l\u00e4sst gr\u00fc\u00dfen).<\/p>\nJeder Spieler ist ein Filmproduzent, und versucht “seine” Version des Films
\naufzubauen, mit eigener “Location”, und verschiedenen “Characters”,
\ndie auch “props” besitzen. Alle diese Karten haben Punktwerte, die sich zu
\neinem gesammelten “Defense”-Wert addieren. Dieser ist auch potentieller
\nPunktestand f\u00fcr den Sieg, wenn die Karte “Roll Credits” gespielt wird. Es gibt
\nallerdings noch eine zus\u00e4tzliche Punktequelle, n\u00e4mlich den Filmtitel – am Anfang des
\nSpiels wird aus 6 zuf\u00e4llig gezogenen Karten ein m\u00f6glichst bizarrer Titel zusammengestellt
\n(in unserem Fall war das “The Mystic Portal of Egypt versus the valley of the
\nvolcano amazons” (nun, vielleicht ein bisschen zu lang, um im Kino erfolgreich zu
\nlaufen). Jede Karte, auf der Hand oder im Spiel, die einen Teil dieses Titels tr\u00e4gt,
\nbringt 5 Bonuspunkte, muss also eine der urspr\u00fcnglich gezogenen Karten sein.<\/p>\n![\"cards\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/Ressourcen\/cannibal1.jpg\")
Im Spiel benutzt man Monsterkarten sowie SFX-Karten (letztere sind hundertmal
\nschlimmer, denn sie k\u00f6nnen IMMER gespielt werden), um die Filme der anderen Spieler
\nanzugreifen. Hierbei wird Gott sei dank nicht gew\u00fcrfelt, sondern einfach nur Angriffs-
\nund Verteidigungswert miteinander verglichen. Alle Spieler k\u00f6nnen SFX-Karten spielen, um
\ndas Ergebnis zu beeinflussen. Siegt der Angreifer, stirbt ein “Darsteller”. Und
\nman staunt – 80% aller Angriffe sind erfolgreich, denn die Monster sind nicht gerade
\nschw\u00e4chlich!<\/p>\n![\"box](\"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/Ressourcen\/cannibal2.jpg\")
Das Spiel besteht vor allem aus den komplexen Karteninteraktionen –
\npraktisch alle Karten im Spiel haben einzigartige Sonderf\u00e4higkeiten, die die Regeln
\nbrechen k\u00f6nnen, manchmal ist es gar nicht einfach, den \u00dcberblick zu behalten! Der
\nChaosfaktor ist extrem hoch – kaum hat man mal m\u00fchsam 1 oder 2 Darsteller in seinen Film
\ngebracht, schon verschlingt sie irgendein Monster oder irgendein Spezialeffekt, die
\nmeisten Z\u00fcge beginnen damit, dass man seinen gesamten Film erst wieder aufbauen muss, was
\neinem anhand der mehr oder weniger guten gezogenen Karten mehr oder weniger gut gelingt.
\nEs macht ohnehin keinen Sinn, irgendwelche Karten (au\u00dfer der Bonuskarten) aufzuheben,
\ndenn st\u00e4ndig verliert man seine Kartenhand, bekommt einzelne Karten weggenommen, etc.).
\nDaher gibt es auch keine l\u00e4ngerfristigere Strategien – es z\u00e4hlt allein der Spa\u00dffaktor der
\nim 50er-Jahre-Comic-Stil gezeichneten Karten. Das ist beim ersten Spiel vielleicht ganz
\nnett, weil die Karten neu sind, wird aber sicherlich beim mehrmaligen Spielen m\u00fchsam und
\nlangweilig.<\/p>\nGewinnen tut man nur dann, wenn man 1) Gute Karten in der Runde ausspielen kann 2) die
\n“Roll Credits”-Karte besitzt und spielt. Dies kann man auf keinen Fall
\nvorausplanen, es ist pures Gl\u00fcck.<\/p>\nZudem dauerte das Spiel extrem lang – manche Karteneffekte verhindern “Roll
\nCredits”, und so kann sich das Chaos ewig (zumindest ZU ewig f\u00fcr ein kleines
\nKartenspiel) hinziehen.<\/p>\nDennoch: F\u00fcr Fans der Thematik ein nettes Spielchen, und die Karten sind wirklich
\nlustig. Ansonsten spielerischer Durchschnitt.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- <\/a>Star Wars – Epic Duels<\/a><\/b>
\n
\nDieses Spiel wird spannender und besser, desto \u00f6fter man es spielt! Diesmal traten Darth
\nVader und Count Dooku, sicherlich die beiden m\u00e4chtigsten Charaktere der dunklen Seite,
\ngegen Anakin Skywalker und Han Solo an. Da wir inzwischen die Karten immer besser kennen,
\nwird das Spiel immer taktischer, zudem spielten wir mit einer kleinen Variante, die es
\nerlaubt, immer eine Karte des Teampartners zu sehen.<\/p>\nCount Dooku wagte sich gleich am Anfang zu weit vor, und konnte durch eine gl\u00fcckliche
\nKombination von Anakins Spezialkarten unsch\u00e4dlich gemacht werden. Doch auch Han Solo
\nstarb kurz darauf durch eine Kugel eines Nebencharakters. Nun galt es, Darth Vaders
\nSturmtruppen unsch\u00e4dlich zu machen, um einen Spieler auszuschalten (und damit einen
\nKartenvorteil zu erlangen). Dies gelang, doch letztlich f\u00fchrte allein die Z\u00e4higkeit
\nChewbaccas zum Sieg der Guten – Anakin war schon kurz am Abnippeln bevor Chewbacca den
\nrettenden Armbrustschuss tat.<\/p>\nDa hat Darth Vader sich also letztlich selber umgebracht, oder zumindest dabei geholfen!<\/p>\n
Dies kann nur bei EPIC DUELS geschehen!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Spielbericht 31.10.2002 (Halloween) Author: Moritz at the table: Peter, Andrea, Hans, Moritz on the table: Quest for the Dragonlords, Cannibal Pygmies in the Jungle of Doom, Star Wars – Epic Duels Quest for the Dragonlords After the games fair in Essen we are again starting the slow process of trying out all new releases, in … Spielbericht 31.10.2002 (Halloween)<\/span> weiterlesen
- <\/a>Cannibal