Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Friday, August 24, 2007
Hidden Conflict - An Underdog's Strategy Guide
Currently working on a strategy guide for the game Hidden Conflict. I don't know what it is, but something just makes me root for an underdog, such as this game. It had a lot of potential, but no expansions will be coming out for it due to bad sales. *sigh*
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Hidden Conflict - A game that deserves a second chance
There are things that go bump in the night, and we are the ones who bump back.
Hidden Conflict is a 2-6 player, customizable strategy tile game by Twilight Creations. The premise of the game is while humanity has bickered and fought with itself, the forces of evil have gathered for a final showdown. A last conflict that, if won, will grant control of the Earth. The players play the leaders of one of the factions vying for supremacy of the Earth. The object of the game is to kill all enemy Leaders.
What you having? Six library guards, raw, plus belts and boots. Man, you're gonna need some heavy fiber to move that out.
There are six sets of color coded tiles, one for each faction. The tiles are relatively thick and easily managed. The artwork on each of the factions varies from crisp and clean to downright amateurish. Overall, the artwork gets a thumbs up from me. The factions and border colors are as follows:
Human (White): What they lack in ability they more than make up for in armament and protection. Their Events are effective against night creatures (Vampires, Werewolves, and Ghouls) and also give them the ability to withdraw fighters from a losing battle.
Demon (Black): Demons, along with the Humans, have Events that are effective against night creatures. They also have events that have the ability to kill an opposing fighter. Demons can arm themselves with mystical knives and have amulets that allow their Leader to resurrect fallen fighters.
Zombie (Blue): The last of the day creatures. Zombies have Events that affect both night and day creatures. They also have Events that cause enemy fighters to miss or lose their abilities for a fight. The downside for this faction is that they have no Items in which to equip.
Ghoul (Green): These fetid night creatures have the resurrection ability and knives, just like the demons. They also have Events that have the ability to kill an opposing fighter, as well the ability to soften up enemy fighters with damage.
Werewolves (Yellow): The Lycanthropes, like their undead brethren the Zombies, have no items to equip, but make up for it with a wide range of Events. They have Events that cause enemy fighters to miss or lose their abilities for a fight. They have Events that are effective against day creatures (Humans, Zombies, Demons) and the ability to soften up enemy fighters with damage.
Vampires (Red): The Vampires also have no items to equip, but their Events are more effective. Their Events cause enemy fighters to miss or lose their abilities for a fight. Like the Humans, they can also extract a fighter from a losing battle and, more importantly, have the ability to cause an enemy fighter to fight its own compatriots.
Each faction's army all have identical fighters, so no one faction has an inherent advantage or disadvantage. Each have six fighters for Level 2 (the strongest, second only to the Leader) through Level 6 (rank and file recruits). Each tile has a numerical value for attack and defense strength, similar to creatures from Magic: The Gathering. Lastly, each fighter has an Ability or Restriction. They are outlined below:
Aid: A fighter with this ability can add its attack value to another Aid fighter adjacent to them in the battle lineup. This advantage comes in handy in two ways. One, two weaker fighters can gang up on one strong opponent that they could not normally defeat themselves. Two, it allows you to chose which Aid fighter will take the damage from the enemy fighter. Furthermore, Aid fighters can assist each other with their respective fights if they both survive. This powerful ability is tempered by the fact that it can only be used during your turn, when you are the Active Player. Any Aid fighters from your faction that are attacked by another player cannot assist each other.
Fast: Similar to the First Strike ability in Magic. Normally, attacks are simultaneous in Hidden Conflict, but a fighter with the Fast ability applies their attack first. If an opponent is defeated, it is discarded without fighting back.
Hide: A fighter with this ability may be used in lieu of fighting an opponent. When activated, it causes the fighter to be placed faced down on an adjacent face down stack. If there are no face down stacks nearby, the ability cannot be used. This ability can only be used during your turn.
Leader: Your Leader tile has the abilities of No Event (see below) and Aid.
No Event: If an opposing tile (a tile directly across from this fighter) during the battle is an Event tile (such as Scatter, Daybreak, Flashfire, or Trap), it will have no effect on the fighter with this ability. However, it will not protect them from the Bomb Event.
No Start: These fighters cannot be selected as one of your starting 5 tiles.
Resist: One of the more powerful abilities in the game, in my opinion. A fighter with this ability must be defeated by a lower level opponent or two opponents at the same time (two with the ability Aid). This ability works whether the fighter is active or not.
Scout: The fighter with this ability can look at the top tile of any face down stack adjacent to the combat location, provided that fighter is chosen to fight, but does not engage an enemy fighter. This ability can only be used during your turn.
Included with each faction is a set of Item/Event tiles. There are two types of Events, Instant and Non Instant. The Instant events automatically happens once all tiles are revealed, but before combat. If it's not an instant event, or if it's an item, they are given to their respective owners. They are as follows, along which each faction that possesses the type:
Bomb (Event; all factions): Use this event to blow an entire face down stack to kingdom come. However, it is best to use restraint, as the face down stack may very well hold your own men. Use with conjunction with a fighter with Scouting ability. A face down stack cannot be bombed if it has been chosen to be attacked by the Active Player.
Daybreak (Instant Event; Humans, Zombies, Demons): Any night creatures (Vampires, Werewolves, or Ghouls) selected for combat are removed from play.
Extraction (Event; Humans and Vampires): Discard the Event tile to remove any one of your fighters from combat and place it atop one of your face up stacks furthest from the combat location. This cannot be the face up stack being used for combat and this event cannot be used if there are no other face up stacks. Stacking restrictions apply (no more than four fighters, not including Items, per stack).
Flashfire (Instant Event; Ghouls, Werewolves): This event inflicts +1 damage (-1 defense) to all fighters in this combat round, except those of matching border color. So, if a Ghoul Flashfire went off, it would not affect the Ghoul fighters, but would affect everyone else.
Hypnosis (Event; Vampires): When opposing tiles are revealed in combat, discard this tile to gain control of an enemy fighter opposite the Vampire. The Hypnotized fighter then fight any other fighters on his side who are after them in the combat lineup. This combat occurs before all others.
Lost (Event; Werewolves, Vampires, Zombies): Discard this tile to cancel the special ability of an opposing fighter. This can be used on any other player's fighters, whether you are involved in the combat or not.
Miss (Event; Werewolves, Vampires, Zombies): Discard this tile to cancel an attack from one fighter. That fighter will still defend. The remainder of the combat continues as normal.
Scatter (Instant Event; Werewolves, Vampires, Zombies): All day creatures (Zombies, Humans, and Demons), excluding the ones matching the border color of this event, must be turned face down and placed evenly by the active player to adjacent face down stacks. Stacking restrictions apply and if there are no available face down stacks, the tiles are removed from play.
Trap (Instant Event; Demons, Ghouls): Immediately remove the opposing tile from play, except those of matching border color.
Item tiles are attached to appropriate group's fighters. They can be attached at any time and do not need to be attached when revealed. A fighter can only have one of each type of tile. The types of Items are:
Gun (Human): this item give the Human fighter +1 attack. The item must be attached before the combat round.
Body Armor (Human): +1 defense to a fighter. This item cannot be given to your Leader. It, too, must be attached to a fighter before the combat round.
Knife (Demon, Ghoul): +1 attack to the respective Demon or Ghoul. Ghoul knives cannot be used by Demons, and vice versa. Needs to be attached before the combat round.
Crystal (Ghoul): This item can only be attached to a Leader. Once used, it allows the player to resurrect a dead Ghoul, to be placed at the bottom of the Leader stack. Stacking restrictions apply.
Amulet (Demon): Like the Crystal, it allows the Demon Leader to resurrect a dead Demon to be placed at the bottom of the Leader's stack. Stacking restrictions apply.
Remind me why I do this again?
Rotten eggs and the safety of mankind.
Ah!
Setup and Gameplay: Each player picks a faction and starts setting up their army. The quantity of tiles available depends on the number of players. For example: 2 players will need to have a 29 tile army, including their Leader. A 3 player game will have 25 tiles available. 4-6 players, 20 tiles.
The players are allowed to create any type of army they wish with one caveat: the number of troops from each level have to all be within one of all other levels. For example, you cannot have all six Level 2's and only one Level 6. Your army has to be evenly distributed amongst all the levels you have.
After the army has been composed, you select 5 starting tiles, your Leader plus any four legal tiles (No items, events, or fighters with the restriction of No Start). You may notice that the number of starting tiles goes over the stacking restriction of four. That's all right, only during your starting turn is the restriction waived. After that, the restriction comes on in full force.
After all players have chosen their starting tiles, the remaining tiles are then placed faced down, mixed, and then stacked in sets of threes in a grid pattern. The pattern's size varies with the number of players: 2 player (4x4), 3-4 players (4x5), 5 players (5x5), and 6 players (5x6).
After the board is set up, the Humans start by deciding which face down stack to place their starting stack. The player to the left of the Human player then does the same and so on until all the factions' starting stacks have been placed. If no one picks the Humans, then a player is chosen randomly to start.
The game is played in several steps:
1.Choose fighters
2.Choose location
3.Flip face down tiles to match up with chosen fighters
4.Resolve instant Events
5.Give remaining Events and Items to their respective owners.
6.Compare Attack/Defense numbers of combatants.
7.Discard killed fighters
8.Disperse surviving fighters
9.Move/Stack fighters
10.End of Turn
First, the player whose turn it is selects a minimum of one to a maximum of three fighters. Lay them out from top to bottom in the order in which you want them to fight. You can choose fighters from different stacks, but all stacks in which fighters are drawn need to be adjacent to the combat location. The other restriction is that you may not use more fighters than the number of tiles at the combat location. Example: If there are only 2 tiles in a face down stack, you may only send 1 or 2 fighters, not three. If possible, you must attack each turn.
Next, you choose a combat location. The location must be orthogonally (not diagonally) adjacent to your selected fighters. If you happen to start disengaged from either an enemy face up stack or a face down stack, you must use your turn to move your stacks so that at least one is adjacent to either an enemy face up stack or a face down stack.
Then, you flip over face down tiles you are attacking in order, with the first one matching with the first of your chosen fighters. If you attack a face up stack, you match the top tile with your first fighter and so on.
Once the sequence has been established, you then resolve any Instant Events. The Active Player decides the order in which the Events resolve if there is more than one.
After that, the Active Player then distributes any Items and/or Non-Instant Events to their appropriate owners, according to the border color of the tiles.
After that is concluded, the meaty part of the game begins! Starting with the first fighter, its Attack number is compared to the opposing fighter's Defense number. If the Attack number equals or exceeds the opposing fighter's Defense number, that opponent is killed. This process is repeated as many times as their were fighters chosen. If it turns out that one or more of the revealed tiles are fighters of the Active Player's Army, they do not fight their own. Instead, they stay in place for match up purposes only.
If any fighters were killed, they are removed to the Graveyard in the 7th step, along with any Items that may be attached to it. If your Leader is killed, you remove all your face up stacks from the board and any of your tiles revealed from face down stacks are discarded without being resolved or encountered.
After step 7, if there are any surviving tiles, either enemy or friendly, they must be distributed to their respective owners. These tiles are placed at the bottom of a friendly face up stack furthest from the combat location that is able to accept them. Remember, after the player's first turn, a face up stack can never have more than four fighters per stack. If there are no legal stacks to place the fighter, it is placed in the Graveyard. Then, the fighters chosen for battle, along with any friendly fighters that were flipped from the stack, are placed in the combat location if there are no more tiles present in that location. If there are still tiles present, your fighters go back to their starting locations. If you attacked a face up stack, any surviving fighters are place back in order as they were prior to the combat. Your fighters will do the same, unless the combat location was cleared of tiles.
After step 8, you may now move and stack your fighters, regardless if they fought that turn. Each fighter can move a number of spaces up to their Level. So, the weaker fighters move further than the stronger fighters. Stacks my move to any open area as long as they move in orthogonal directions and don't jump over a face down stack. At the end of your turn, you must have one of your face up stacks next to either an enemy face up stack or a face down stack. Furthermore, as part of the movement phase, you can rearrange the sequence of your fighters in you face up stacks. The advantage to this is if anyone attacks the stack, they'll do it in the order that you set. The downside is that you must show the other players what order you are stacking them in, so there is no hidden information.
Once you have finished the above steps, play passes to the player on your left. The game continues until a player eliminates all enemy Leaders. In the event that all Leaders are killed, then the player with the most fighters wins. If there is a tie for most fighters, then the player who has the lowest level total of all his or her remaining fighters wins.
Look, Sammy, I'm not a very good shot...but the Samaritan here uses really big bullets.
Things I like: Since all the armies are alike, there is no distinct advantage of one faction over the other. They are all evenly balanced, so there won't be any fistfights over who gets to be the more powerful faction. Also, the real depth to the game is how you construct your army and your subsequent style of play. You can use all your faction's Events and Items available to it, but that will lower the number of fighters you have. You can go the opposite way, forgoing Items and Events to have the maximum amount of fighters, but you run the risk of being beaten back by an opponent's judicious use of Events or, in the Case of Trap, Bomb, or Daybreak, you will sustain higher casualties because of the higher percentage of fighters in your armies. Another thing I like is that although there is some blind fighting early on, that dwindles significantly as players take their turns, revealing tiles and eliminating face down tiles.
Aw, crap
Things I didn't like: First and foremost, the rules that come with the game SUCK to the nth power. They are not well written at all and they give next to no examples to show you how to play the game, much less explain how Abilities, Events, and Items work. Fortunately, Twilight Creations have available for download the revised rules for the game. These rules certainly explain a lot of the puzzling questions about how the game is played left from the original rules, but in some instances the revised rules infers things by context, not by concrete example. They do have a step by step example of how a turn is played, but they don't show you exactly how certain Events can be played (For instance, giving the prospective player examples of how Hypnotize, Scout, Miss, or Hide actually work in the turn sequence; or showing when Items, such as Crystals or Amulets, can be used). The other thing I accepted but didn't care for was the lack of diversity between the factions. The only thing that was different were the Items and Events, that's it. A little more diversity could have made it better, but then there would be cries of, “this game is broken! X faction is too powerful!” So, I will have to accept the way the game is comprised.
Mmmm... nachos!
Overall, with all its warts and bumps, I really like Hidden Conflict. It's got customization, numerous choices to make, and strategic depth. It's definitely a game that should get a second chance, with the revised rules, of course!
Final rating: 8/10.
Hidden Conflict is a 2-6 player, customizable strategy tile game by Twilight Creations. The premise of the game is while humanity has bickered and fought with itself, the forces of evil have gathered for a final showdown. A last conflict that, if won, will grant control of the Earth. The players play the leaders of one of the factions vying for supremacy of the Earth. The object of the game is to kill all enemy Leaders.
What you having? Six library guards, raw, plus belts and boots. Man, you're gonna need some heavy fiber to move that out.
There are six sets of color coded tiles, one for each faction. The tiles are relatively thick and easily managed. The artwork on each of the factions varies from crisp and clean to downright amateurish. Overall, the artwork gets a thumbs up from me. The factions and border colors are as follows:
Human (White): What they lack in ability they more than make up for in armament and protection. Their Events are effective against night creatures (Vampires, Werewolves, and Ghouls) and also give them the ability to withdraw fighters from a losing battle.
Demon (Black): Demons, along with the Humans, have Events that are effective against night creatures. They also have events that have the ability to kill an opposing fighter. Demons can arm themselves with mystical knives and have amulets that allow their Leader to resurrect fallen fighters.
Zombie (Blue): The last of the day creatures. Zombies have Events that affect both night and day creatures. They also have Events that cause enemy fighters to miss or lose their abilities for a fight. The downside for this faction is that they have no Items in which to equip.
Ghoul (Green): These fetid night creatures have the resurrection ability and knives, just like the demons. They also have Events that have the ability to kill an opposing fighter, as well the ability to soften up enemy fighters with damage.
Werewolves (Yellow): The Lycanthropes, like their undead brethren the Zombies, have no items to equip, but make up for it with a wide range of Events. They have Events that cause enemy fighters to miss or lose their abilities for a fight. They have Events that are effective against day creatures (Humans, Zombies, Demons) and the ability to soften up enemy fighters with damage.
Vampires (Red): The Vampires also have no items to equip, but their Events are more effective. Their Events cause enemy fighters to miss or lose their abilities for a fight. Like the Humans, they can also extract a fighter from a losing battle and, more importantly, have the ability to cause an enemy fighter to fight its own compatriots.
Each faction's army all have identical fighters, so no one faction has an inherent advantage or disadvantage. Each have six fighters for Level 2 (the strongest, second only to the Leader) through Level 6 (rank and file recruits). Each tile has a numerical value for attack and defense strength, similar to creatures from Magic: The Gathering. Lastly, each fighter has an Ability or Restriction. They are outlined below:
Aid: A fighter with this ability can add its attack value to another Aid fighter adjacent to them in the battle lineup. This advantage comes in handy in two ways. One, two weaker fighters can gang up on one strong opponent that they could not normally defeat themselves. Two, it allows you to chose which Aid fighter will take the damage from the enemy fighter. Furthermore, Aid fighters can assist each other with their respective fights if they both survive. This powerful ability is tempered by the fact that it can only be used during your turn, when you are the Active Player. Any Aid fighters from your faction that are attacked by another player cannot assist each other.
Fast: Similar to the First Strike ability in Magic. Normally, attacks are simultaneous in Hidden Conflict, but a fighter with the Fast ability applies their attack first. If an opponent is defeated, it is discarded without fighting back.
Hide: A fighter with this ability may be used in lieu of fighting an opponent. When activated, it causes the fighter to be placed faced down on an adjacent face down stack. If there are no face down stacks nearby, the ability cannot be used. This ability can only be used during your turn.
Leader: Your Leader tile has the abilities of No Event (see below) and Aid.
No Event: If an opposing tile (a tile directly across from this fighter) during the battle is an Event tile (such as Scatter, Daybreak, Flashfire, or Trap), it will have no effect on the fighter with this ability. However, it will not protect them from the Bomb Event.
No Start: These fighters cannot be selected as one of your starting 5 tiles.
Resist: One of the more powerful abilities in the game, in my opinion. A fighter with this ability must be defeated by a lower level opponent or two opponents at the same time (two with the ability Aid). This ability works whether the fighter is active or not.
Scout: The fighter with this ability can look at the top tile of any face down stack adjacent to the combat location, provided that fighter is chosen to fight, but does not engage an enemy fighter. This ability can only be used during your turn.
Included with each faction is a set of Item/Event tiles. There are two types of Events, Instant and Non Instant. The Instant events automatically happens once all tiles are revealed, but before combat. If it's not an instant event, or if it's an item, they are given to their respective owners. They are as follows, along which each faction that possesses the type:
Bomb (Event; all factions): Use this event to blow an entire face down stack to kingdom come. However, it is best to use restraint, as the face down stack may very well hold your own men. Use with conjunction with a fighter with Scouting ability. A face down stack cannot be bombed if it has been chosen to be attacked by the Active Player.
Daybreak (Instant Event; Humans, Zombies, Demons): Any night creatures (Vampires, Werewolves, or Ghouls) selected for combat are removed from play.
Extraction (Event; Humans and Vampires): Discard the Event tile to remove any one of your fighters from combat and place it atop one of your face up stacks furthest from the combat location. This cannot be the face up stack being used for combat and this event cannot be used if there are no other face up stacks. Stacking restrictions apply (no more than four fighters, not including Items, per stack).
Flashfire (Instant Event; Ghouls, Werewolves): This event inflicts +1 damage (-1 defense) to all fighters in this combat round, except those of matching border color. So, if a Ghoul Flashfire went off, it would not affect the Ghoul fighters, but would affect everyone else.
Hypnosis (Event; Vampires): When opposing tiles are revealed in combat, discard this tile to gain control of an enemy fighter opposite the Vampire. The Hypnotized fighter then fight any other fighters on his side who are after them in the combat lineup. This combat occurs before all others.
Lost (Event; Werewolves, Vampires, Zombies): Discard this tile to cancel the special ability of an opposing fighter. This can be used on any other player's fighters, whether you are involved in the combat or not.
Miss (Event; Werewolves, Vampires, Zombies): Discard this tile to cancel an attack from one fighter. That fighter will still defend. The remainder of the combat continues as normal.
Scatter (Instant Event; Werewolves, Vampires, Zombies): All day creatures (Zombies, Humans, and Demons), excluding the ones matching the border color of this event, must be turned face down and placed evenly by the active player to adjacent face down stacks. Stacking restrictions apply and if there are no available face down stacks, the tiles are removed from play.
Trap (Instant Event; Demons, Ghouls): Immediately remove the opposing tile from play, except those of matching border color.
Item tiles are attached to appropriate group's fighters. They can be attached at any time and do not need to be attached when revealed. A fighter can only have one of each type of tile. The types of Items are:
Gun (Human): this item give the Human fighter +1 attack. The item must be attached before the combat round.
Body Armor (Human): +1 defense to a fighter. This item cannot be given to your Leader. It, too, must be attached to a fighter before the combat round.
Knife (Demon, Ghoul): +1 attack to the respective Demon or Ghoul. Ghoul knives cannot be used by Demons, and vice versa. Needs to be attached before the combat round.
Crystal (Ghoul): This item can only be attached to a Leader. Once used, it allows the player to resurrect a dead Ghoul, to be placed at the bottom of the Leader stack. Stacking restrictions apply.
Amulet (Demon): Like the Crystal, it allows the Demon Leader to resurrect a dead Demon to be placed at the bottom of the Leader's stack. Stacking restrictions apply.
Remind me why I do this again?
Rotten eggs and the safety of mankind.
Ah!
Setup and Gameplay: Each player picks a faction and starts setting up their army. The quantity of tiles available depends on the number of players. For example: 2 players will need to have a 29 tile army, including their Leader. A 3 player game will have 25 tiles available. 4-6 players, 20 tiles.
The players are allowed to create any type of army they wish with one caveat: the number of troops from each level have to all be within one of all other levels. For example, you cannot have all six Level 2's and only one Level 6. Your army has to be evenly distributed amongst all the levels you have.
After the army has been composed, you select 5 starting tiles, your Leader plus any four legal tiles (No items, events, or fighters with the restriction of No Start). You may notice that the number of starting tiles goes over the stacking restriction of four. That's all right, only during your starting turn is the restriction waived. After that, the restriction comes on in full force.
After all players have chosen their starting tiles, the remaining tiles are then placed faced down, mixed, and then stacked in sets of threes in a grid pattern. The pattern's size varies with the number of players: 2 player (4x4), 3-4 players (4x5), 5 players (5x5), and 6 players (5x6).
After the board is set up, the Humans start by deciding which face down stack to place their starting stack. The player to the left of the Human player then does the same and so on until all the factions' starting stacks have been placed. If no one picks the Humans, then a player is chosen randomly to start.
The game is played in several steps:
1.Choose fighters
2.Choose location
3.Flip face down tiles to match up with chosen fighters
4.Resolve instant Events
5.Give remaining Events and Items to their respective owners.
6.Compare Attack/Defense numbers of combatants.
7.Discard killed fighters
8.Disperse surviving fighters
9.Move/Stack fighters
10.End of Turn
First, the player whose turn it is selects a minimum of one to a maximum of three fighters. Lay them out from top to bottom in the order in which you want them to fight. You can choose fighters from different stacks, but all stacks in which fighters are drawn need to be adjacent to the combat location. The other restriction is that you may not use more fighters than the number of tiles at the combat location. Example: If there are only 2 tiles in a face down stack, you may only send 1 or 2 fighters, not three. If possible, you must attack each turn.
Next, you choose a combat location. The location must be orthogonally (not diagonally) adjacent to your selected fighters. If you happen to start disengaged from either an enemy face up stack or a face down stack, you must use your turn to move your stacks so that at least one is adjacent to either an enemy face up stack or a face down stack.
Then, you flip over face down tiles you are attacking in order, with the first one matching with the first of your chosen fighters. If you attack a face up stack, you match the top tile with your first fighter and so on.
Once the sequence has been established, you then resolve any Instant Events. The Active Player decides the order in which the Events resolve if there is more than one.
After that, the Active Player then distributes any Items and/or Non-Instant Events to their appropriate owners, according to the border color of the tiles.
After that is concluded, the meaty part of the game begins! Starting with the first fighter, its Attack number is compared to the opposing fighter's Defense number. If the Attack number equals or exceeds the opposing fighter's Defense number, that opponent is killed. This process is repeated as many times as their were fighters chosen. If it turns out that one or more of the revealed tiles are fighters of the Active Player's Army, they do not fight their own. Instead, they stay in place for match up purposes only.
If any fighters were killed, they are removed to the Graveyard in the 7th step, along with any Items that may be attached to it. If your Leader is killed, you remove all your face up stacks from the board and any of your tiles revealed from face down stacks are discarded without being resolved or encountered.
After step 7, if there are any surviving tiles, either enemy or friendly, they must be distributed to their respective owners. These tiles are placed at the bottom of a friendly face up stack furthest from the combat location that is able to accept them. Remember, after the player's first turn, a face up stack can never have more than four fighters per stack. If there are no legal stacks to place the fighter, it is placed in the Graveyard. Then, the fighters chosen for battle, along with any friendly fighters that were flipped from the stack, are placed in the combat location if there are no more tiles present in that location. If there are still tiles present, your fighters go back to their starting locations. If you attacked a face up stack, any surviving fighters are place back in order as they were prior to the combat. Your fighters will do the same, unless the combat location was cleared of tiles.
After step 8, you may now move and stack your fighters, regardless if they fought that turn. Each fighter can move a number of spaces up to their Level. So, the weaker fighters move further than the stronger fighters. Stacks my move to any open area as long as they move in orthogonal directions and don't jump over a face down stack. At the end of your turn, you must have one of your face up stacks next to either an enemy face up stack or a face down stack. Furthermore, as part of the movement phase, you can rearrange the sequence of your fighters in you face up stacks. The advantage to this is if anyone attacks the stack, they'll do it in the order that you set. The downside is that you must show the other players what order you are stacking them in, so there is no hidden information.
Once you have finished the above steps, play passes to the player on your left. The game continues until a player eliminates all enemy Leaders. In the event that all Leaders are killed, then the player with the most fighters wins. If there is a tie for most fighters, then the player who has the lowest level total of all his or her remaining fighters wins.
Look, Sammy, I'm not a very good shot...but the Samaritan here uses really big bullets.
Things I like: Since all the armies are alike, there is no distinct advantage of one faction over the other. They are all evenly balanced, so there won't be any fistfights over who gets to be the more powerful faction. Also, the real depth to the game is how you construct your army and your subsequent style of play. You can use all your faction's Events and Items available to it, but that will lower the number of fighters you have. You can go the opposite way, forgoing Items and Events to have the maximum amount of fighters, but you run the risk of being beaten back by an opponent's judicious use of Events or, in the Case of Trap, Bomb, or Daybreak, you will sustain higher casualties because of the higher percentage of fighters in your armies. Another thing I like is that although there is some blind fighting early on, that dwindles significantly as players take their turns, revealing tiles and eliminating face down tiles.
Aw, crap
Things I didn't like: First and foremost, the rules that come with the game SUCK to the nth power. They are not well written at all and they give next to no examples to show you how to play the game, much less explain how Abilities, Events, and Items work. Fortunately, Twilight Creations have available for download the revised rules for the game. These rules certainly explain a lot of the puzzling questions about how the game is played left from the original rules, but in some instances the revised rules infers things by context, not by concrete example. They do have a step by step example of how a turn is played, but they don't show you exactly how certain Events can be played (For instance, giving the prospective player examples of how Hypnotize, Scout, Miss, or Hide actually work in the turn sequence; or showing when Items, such as Crystals or Amulets, can be used). The other thing I accepted but didn't care for was the lack of diversity between the factions. The only thing that was different were the Items and Events, that's it. A little more diversity could have made it better, but then there would be cries of, “this game is broken! X faction is too powerful!” So, I will have to accept the way the game is comprised.
Mmmm... nachos!
Overall, with all its warts and bumps, I really like Hidden Conflict. It's got customization, numerous choices to make, and strategic depth. It's definitely a game that should get a second chance, with the revised rules, of course!
Final rating: 8/10.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Domain: The Warlock's (Disappointing) Challenge
I'm posting my content here just in the off chance that BGG becomes no fun for me and I decide to take my content with me. This will be the Black Library, so to speak, of my content at BGG.
I picked up this game back in 1991 at my local game store. What sold me on the game was the replayability factor: “No two games will be the same.” Add the fact that it was a dungeoncrawl made me part with my money. For the most part, the game languished in my closet, seldom played, for a good number of years.
Then, I noticed on a Geeklist and a Forum that someone wanted more information on the game. So, I pulled out the game, blew off the dust, and played a few times solo. Here’s my review.
Enter unarmed, there are weapons within
Premise:
Domain is a tile laying boardgame for 1-4 players. The players take the role of adventurers who accept the challenge of the warlock, Algrim. The challenge (and the object of the game) is simple; the players must wend their way through Algrim’s dungeon, grab one of four treasures from the warlock’s treasure chamber, and make it out alive.
The theme and gameplay is pure dungeoncrawl, with some interesting concepts, but when compared to other games of its kin, it unfortunately pales in comparison.
My guardians are bold and you may not win
Components:
The dungeon is comprised of sturdy, durable cardboard tiles. There are three sets of tiles: The outer dungeon, the inner dungeon, and the 6 Antechamber/Treasure Chamber tiles. The tiles are nicely drawn and are easily recognizable from each other, thanks to the placement sheet reminder on the smaller tiles. The big tiles clearly indicate where they are played, so that’s not a problem. There are four Antechamber and two Treasure Chamber cards. The smaller tiles notwithstanding, that gives you twelve possible combinations. Add to that the placement of the major treasures make the game slightly unpredictable.
The tiles, when played, are placed on a flimsy cardboard placeholder in the player’s entrance area, which is clearly marked by quadrant. Unlike the tiles themselves, the placeholder is purely functional and adds nothing to the game, save on telling you where the various tiles go.
The players’ playing pieces are cardboard standups placed in plastic bases. The artwork of the various adventurers and the warlock is quite bland and I ended up swapping them out in favor of actual fantasy miniatures.
Each player gets a status card, which keeps track of Experience earned, Luck, Life Points, Attack Strength, Defense Strength, and a travel marker that is used when the player moves between trapdoors. They also get a lantern card to denote it being lit or unlit.
Magic and treasures simply abound
Gameplay:
Once you’ve picked a quadrant to start, the player may enter one of the twelve positions marked on the placeholder to enter and to lay down a tile. The 3x3 outer and inner tiles are placed in a particular fashion. The outer tiles are placed so that they line up with one of the dots that mark the players’ entrance. So, when a player moves to a new tile, he rotates the tile so that the dot marks the player’s entrance point from the previous tile. The inner tiles do not have dots, but are laid out in the same way as the outer tiles. The Ante chamber tiles and the Treasure chamber tiles are randomly selected and placed to line up with the arrows both on the placeholder and the tile.
The players can move 1-2 spaces a turn and earn experience by exploring the dungeon (i.e. laying tiles in their own quadrant) and fighting monsters (more on that later). Experience is purely used for combat purposes to determine who strikes first.
On the tiles, there are sunburst/diagonal arrow symbols of various colors marking off the locations of either: a) monsters b) objects of various sorts c) pentagrams used by the warlock d) traps/obstacles. As the players make their way to the center of the board, the color of the symbols change from light (in darkened areas)/black(in lit areas) to red (inner tiles) to green (Antechambers/Treasure Chamber). Players who land on the marked spaces draw a chit of that particular color/shape to see what they have found.
If the chit is a monster, the color code indicates at which speed that it attacks and the amount of life points lost if the monster hits the player. The player’s experience is compared to the monster’s speed. If the player’s is greater, then the player strikes first. If not, the monster strikes first. Combat is resolved by rolling a die, adding the result to the player’s Attack Strength, and finally adding any modifiers given by objects found in the dungeon (weapons or spells). The final number is compared to the monster’s defense strength and if the total exceeds it, then the monster is defeated and the player gains an experience point. If total is equal or less that the monster’s defense strength, the monster has shrugged off the blow and can attack the player, using the same procedure listed above (taking the printed Attack Strength and adding it to a roll of a die). If the monster hits, then a number of Life Points is deducted from the player’s starting total of 10 based on the monster’s color code (ranging from 1 LP to 2 LPs) and the player is forced to retreat one space. Certain monsters are undead and can only be killed by either one of two magic weapons (Sword of Light or The Javelin) or one of two spells (Ante Freeze or Boneshaker). Curiously, the undead in Domain are immune to Fireballs.
If the chit is an object, the player can either take it or leave it. The objects have specific weights and a player can only carry eight average objects, of which only two can be heavy. Players can find mundane items such as potions, keys, and rope (useful for opening certain locked doors and crossing pit traps) to magic ingredients for casting spells to armor and magic weapons (like the above mentioned weapons or weapons found in a Magic Room).
If the chit is a pentagram, initially nothing occurs and they are placed face down where they were found. However, when an adventurer makes it to the center and takes one of Algrim's treasures, the pentagrams become active and summon the warlock. After that, any player walking on one activates it and brings the wrath of the warlock down upon them. The player suffers two points of damage and is forced to retreat a space.
If the chit is either a pit trap or other obstacle (collapsed ceiling, locked door), then the player takes damage from the trap, must find a particular key to open the door; or in the case of the collapsed ceiling, another route to the Treasure Chamber.
For the challenger, there to be found
Interesting game concepts:
First of all, I adore the dungeon building process. I enjoy seeing how the dungeon will coalesce and form each time. The outer rooms were akin to raised walkways, with areas to walk down into the darkness to locate monsters or objects. The inner region was more of a maze/obstacle area. Also, some of the rooms act as a boon or a bane. In the two available Magic Rooms, all objects and monsters found there have their value doubled. In the Skull Chambers, a player must be armed with a talisman, otherwise they must pass Luck tests or be stuck in the room, with their life force being slowly drained away.
I also liked the Luck attribute. For instance, if an adventurer loses life points for any reason, he can roll two dice and compare it to his Luck, which starts at 10. If it is less than or equal to his current luck, he passes and takes no damage. He must then permanently reduce his Luck stat by one. On an up note, passing a Luck test earns a point of experience. Furthermore, you can come across trapdoors to circumvent certain parts of the dungeon, such as a problem door or collapsed ceiling.
Should your luck fail and death take its toll
Problems with the game:
There are many problems with this game. First, all the characters are exactly the same. Everyone starts off with four Experience, 10 Life, and 10 Luck. I can understand the concept of balance, but since there is no difference between any of the players, then there is no sense of individuality or uniqueness. Instead of Conan the Barbarian, you have Milquetoast Joe the Adventuring Schmoe. Yipee. More bland play, please!
Second, all the players compete against the board only. The rules are silent on attacking another player, blocking another player, stealing from another player, or even trading with another player! There's only two ways to directly have a hand in killing an adventurer, one of which involves you also dying in the process. One is casting a Fireball spell. The spell, like a heat seeking missile, locks on the nearest life force that is not the caster and destroys it. That means you can fire off the spell and end up killing a player that way if it turns out he is closer to you than a monster chit. The other way to kill a player is to summon evil in a Skull Chamber. If you perform the summoning and happen to roll a one, then everyone's life force in the room dies, including you. If a player dies, he has the option of coming back, but his stats revert to where they were at the beginning of the game and his items are placed at the location where he died. If you've already laid all your tiles in your quadrant, then you have to go monster hunting in order to gain experience, a dangerous prospect unto itself with no weapons to boost your abilities. Another rub, you only earn experience laying tiles in your own quadrant, you get no experience when you venture into another player's quadrant. However, this rule can be used offensively by depriving another player of earning experience if you have already filled up the tiles your side adjoining your neighbor's quadrant.
Third, the magic system is limited to only twelve spells of varying effectiveness. To hamper things further, you need to scrounge around the dungeon looking for reagents in order to cast them. At first, I tried looking for them in order to cast the various spells. Then, I realized that doing that was just making the game longer and distracting me from the real goal: getting to the center of the board to snag one of the warlock's treasures. The only thing that was necessary for that task was one thing: earning experience, because of the high initiative, attack/defense strength monsters resided in the Antechambers and Treasure Chamber.
Fourth, there can be times you can literally explore yourself into a corner. Since the inner region of the dungeon is more of a maze than the outer region, you could run the risk that the layout of the tiles and placement of the chits could cause you to have no path to get to the Antechambers. This is especially troubling when playing solo or with less than three players, as the unused areas cannot be entered. Some people will think that luck has too much of a factor in this, and I disagree. Aside from combat and Luck tests, Luck has a very small role in this game. It's a glaring playtesting shortcoming that this situation should even happen.
Fifth, the warlock's treasures and their powers are nothing to write home about. The most valuable treasure (The Staff of Life) has no game powers whatsoever and the least valuable treasure (the invisibility cloak) gives you the best chance on getting you out of the dungeon alive. Symmetry strikes again, and it's not good.
And finally, I now throw a rock at the warlock, the so-called master of the dungeon. Out of all the denizens in the dungeon, he is the least frightening. The warlock only appears if a pentagram tile is drawn and placed on the board. If that doesn't happen, no warlock. Even if they are played, any player with a good memory can plan a route around them or simply leave through another player's entranceway to avoid them. In fact, the scariest monster in the dungeon is not the warlock but his serpentine locked harridan: The Medusa. If you don't have a) the mirror shield or b) high enough initiative to run away or to cast Mirror Image or Fireball, then you're statuary, my friend.
Then all I claim is your worthless soul
End Result:
As I mentioned earlier, Domain is a tile laying dungeoncrawl, but the fact remains that the game has several problems, least of which is bland play. Will I play it again? Probably, primarily because I am a sucker for nigh infinite permutations on how the dungeon will be laid out. Will it be part of my collection for the coming years? Definitely not. I've already put it up for trade. My attachment to the game is simple nostalgia for the time when I bought it so many years ago.
Final rating: 5/10
I picked up this game back in 1991 at my local game store. What sold me on the game was the replayability factor: “No two games will be the same.” Add the fact that it was a dungeoncrawl made me part with my money. For the most part, the game languished in my closet, seldom played, for a good number of years.
Then, I noticed on a Geeklist and a Forum that someone wanted more information on the game. So, I pulled out the game, blew off the dust, and played a few times solo. Here’s my review.
Enter unarmed, there are weapons within
Premise:
Domain is a tile laying boardgame for 1-4 players. The players take the role of adventurers who accept the challenge of the warlock, Algrim. The challenge (and the object of the game) is simple; the players must wend their way through Algrim’s dungeon, grab one of four treasures from the warlock’s treasure chamber, and make it out alive.
The theme and gameplay is pure dungeoncrawl, with some interesting concepts, but when compared to other games of its kin, it unfortunately pales in comparison.
My guardians are bold and you may not win
Components:
The dungeon is comprised of sturdy, durable cardboard tiles. There are three sets of tiles: The outer dungeon, the inner dungeon, and the 6 Antechamber/Treasure Chamber tiles. The tiles are nicely drawn and are easily recognizable from each other, thanks to the placement sheet reminder on the smaller tiles. The big tiles clearly indicate where they are played, so that’s not a problem. There are four Antechamber and two Treasure Chamber cards. The smaller tiles notwithstanding, that gives you twelve possible combinations. Add to that the placement of the major treasures make the game slightly unpredictable.
The tiles, when played, are placed on a flimsy cardboard placeholder in the player’s entrance area, which is clearly marked by quadrant. Unlike the tiles themselves, the placeholder is purely functional and adds nothing to the game, save on telling you where the various tiles go.
The players’ playing pieces are cardboard standups placed in plastic bases. The artwork of the various adventurers and the warlock is quite bland and I ended up swapping them out in favor of actual fantasy miniatures.
Each player gets a status card, which keeps track of Experience earned, Luck, Life Points, Attack Strength, Defense Strength, and a travel marker that is used when the player moves between trapdoors. They also get a lantern card to denote it being lit or unlit.
Magic and treasures simply abound
Gameplay:
Once you’ve picked a quadrant to start, the player may enter one of the twelve positions marked on the placeholder to enter and to lay down a tile. The 3x3 outer and inner tiles are placed in a particular fashion. The outer tiles are placed so that they line up with one of the dots that mark the players’ entrance. So, when a player moves to a new tile, he rotates the tile so that the dot marks the player’s entrance point from the previous tile. The inner tiles do not have dots, but are laid out in the same way as the outer tiles. The Ante chamber tiles and the Treasure chamber tiles are randomly selected and placed to line up with the arrows both on the placeholder and the tile.
The players can move 1-2 spaces a turn and earn experience by exploring the dungeon (i.e. laying tiles in their own quadrant) and fighting monsters (more on that later). Experience is purely used for combat purposes to determine who strikes first.
On the tiles, there are sunburst/diagonal arrow symbols of various colors marking off the locations of either: a) monsters b) objects of various sorts c) pentagrams used by the warlock d) traps/obstacles. As the players make their way to the center of the board, the color of the symbols change from light (in darkened areas)/black(in lit areas) to red (inner tiles) to green (Antechambers/Treasure Chamber). Players who land on the marked spaces draw a chit of that particular color/shape to see what they have found.
If the chit is a monster, the color code indicates at which speed that it attacks and the amount of life points lost if the monster hits the player. The player’s experience is compared to the monster’s speed. If the player’s is greater, then the player strikes first. If not, the monster strikes first. Combat is resolved by rolling a die, adding the result to the player’s Attack Strength, and finally adding any modifiers given by objects found in the dungeon (weapons or spells). The final number is compared to the monster’s defense strength and if the total exceeds it, then the monster is defeated and the player gains an experience point. If total is equal or less that the monster’s defense strength, the monster has shrugged off the blow and can attack the player, using the same procedure listed above (taking the printed Attack Strength and adding it to a roll of a die). If the monster hits, then a number of Life Points is deducted from the player’s starting total of 10 based on the monster’s color code (ranging from 1 LP to 2 LPs) and the player is forced to retreat one space. Certain monsters are undead and can only be killed by either one of two magic weapons (Sword of Light or The Javelin) or one of two spells (Ante Freeze or Boneshaker). Curiously, the undead in Domain are immune to Fireballs.
If the chit is an object, the player can either take it or leave it. The objects have specific weights and a player can only carry eight average objects, of which only two can be heavy. Players can find mundane items such as potions, keys, and rope (useful for opening certain locked doors and crossing pit traps) to magic ingredients for casting spells to armor and magic weapons (like the above mentioned weapons or weapons found in a Magic Room).
If the chit is a pentagram, initially nothing occurs and they are placed face down where they were found. However, when an adventurer makes it to the center and takes one of Algrim's treasures, the pentagrams become active and summon the warlock. After that, any player walking on one activates it and brings the wrath of the warlock down upon them. The player suffers two points of damage and is forced to retreat a space.
If the chit is either a pit trap or other obstacle (collapsed ceiling, locked door), then the player takes damage from the trap, must find a particular key to open the door; or in the case of the collapsed ceiling, another route to the Treasure Chamber.
For the challenger, there to be found
Interesting game concepts:
First of all, I adore the dungeon building process. I enjoy seeing how the dungeon will coalesce and form each time. The outer rooms were akin to raised walkways, with areas to walk down into the darkness to locate monsters or objects. The inner region was more of a maze/obstacle area. Also, some of the rooms act as a boon or a bane. In the two available Magic Rooms, all objects and monsters found there have their value doubled. In the Skull Chambers, a player must be armed with a talisman, otherwise they must pass Luck tests or be stuck in the room, with their life force being slowly drained away.
I also liked the Luck attribute. For instance, if an adventurer loses life points for any reason, he can roll two dice and compare it to his Luck, which starts at 10. If it is less than or equal to his current luck, he passes and takes no damage. He must then permanently reduce his Luck stat by one. On an up note, passing a Luck test earns a point of experience. Furthermore, you can come across trapdoors to circumvent certain parts of the dungeon, such as a problem door or collapsed ceiling.
Should your luck fail and death take its toll
Problems with the game:
There are many problems with this game. First, all the characters are exactly the same. Everyone starts off with four Experience, 10 Life, and 10 Luck. I can understand the concept of balance, but since there is no difference between any of the players, then there is no sense of individuality or uniqueness. Instead of Conan the Barbarian, you have Milquetoast Joe the Adventuring Schmoe. Yipee. More bland play, please!
Second, all the players compete against the board only. The rules are silent on attacking another player, blocking another player, stealing from another player, or even trading with another player! There's only two ways to directly have a hand in killing an adventurer, one of which involves you also dying in the process. One is casting a Fireball spell. The spell, like a heat seeking missile, locks on the nearest life force that is not the caster and destroys it. That means you can fire off the spell and end up killing a player that way if it turns out he is closer to you than a monster chit. The other way to kill a player is to summon evil in a Skull Chamber. If you perform the summoning and happen to roll a one, then everyone's life force in the room dies, including you. If a player dies, he has the option of coming back, but his stats revert to where they were at the beginning of the game and his items are placed at the location where he died. If you've already laid all your tiles in your quadrant, then you have to go monster hunting in order to gain experience, a dangerous prospect unto itself with no weapons to boost your abilities. Another rub, you only earn experience laying tiles in your own quadrant, you get no experience when you venture into another player's quadrant. However, this rule can be used offensively by depriving another player of earning experience if you have already filled up the tiles your side adjoining your neighbor's quadrant.
Third, the magic system is limited to only twelve spells of varying effectiveness. To hamper things further, you need to scrounge around the dungeon looking for reagents in order to cast them. At first, I tried looking for them in order to cast the various spells. Then, I realized that doing that was just making the game longer and distracting me from the real goal: getting to the center of the board to snag one of the warlock's treasures. The only thing that was necessary for that task was one thing: earning experience, because of the high initiative, attack/defense strength monsters resided in the Antechambers and Treasure Chamber.
Fourth, there can be times you can literally explore yourself into a corner. Since the inner region of the dungeon is more of a maze than the outer region, you could run the risk that the layout of the tiles and placement of the chits could cause you to have no path to get to the Antechambers. This is especially troubling when playing solo or with less than three players, as the unused areas cannot be entered. Some people will think that luck has too much of a factor in this, and I disagree. Aside from combat and Luck tests, Luck has a very small role in this game. It's a glaring playtesting shortcoming that this situation should even happen.
Fifth, the warlock's treasures and their powers are nothing to write home about. The most valuable treasure (The Staff of Life) has no game powers whatsoever and the least valuable treasure (the invisibility cloak) gives you the best chance on getting you out of the dungeon alive. Symmetry strikes again, and it's not good.
And finally, I now throw a rock at the warlock, the so-called master of the dungeon. Out of all the denizens in the dungeon, he is the least frightening. The warlock only appears if a pentagram tile is drawn and placed on the board. If that doesn't happen, no warlock. Even if they are played, any player with a good memory can plan a route around them or simply leave through another player's entranceway to avoid them. In fact, the scariest monster in the dungeon is not the warlock but his serpentine locked harridan: The Medusa. If you don't have a) the mirror shield or b) high enough initiative to run away or to cast Mirror Image or Fireball, then you're statuary, my friend.
Then all I claim is your worthless soul
End Result:
As I mentioned earlier, Domain is a tile laying dungeoncrawl, but the fact remains that the game has several problems, least of which is bland play. Will I play it again? Probably, primarily because I am a sucker for nigh infinite permutations on how the dungeon will be laid out. Will it be part of my collection for the coming years? Definitely not. I've already put it up for trade. My attachment to the game is simple nostalgia for the time when I bought it so many years ago.
Final rating: 5/10
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