The Resistance: Avalon

At this time in my board game career I can say that the spy game mechanic is my new favorite mechanic.  I wrote a review for "The Resistance" which is a spy game that put you (the resistance) up against the corporation (the spies).  You assemble your team and try to complete three missions.  The only fact you know to be true is there are traitors in your midst trying to sabotage every move you make.

The same team that created "The Resistance" came out with a follow up game built on the same spy game premise.  In "The Resistance: Avalon" you are put into the boots of a chivalrous knight of the round table and Merlin the Wizard.  You band together to stop the evil forces of Mordred's unscrupulous minions.  Avalon does not require the original Resistance to play, but you can use the story cards that come with the add-on pack to enhance Avalon is you want.

What sets Avalon apart from it's futuristic brother are the roles that you are dealt at the start the game.  Instead of just the vanilla good guy and bad guy, you can now play many different roles.  In the start of the game you are given a random role card.  This could be a blue guy (agent of King Arthur) or a red guy (agent of evil).  Inside of these two camps there are new roles to play.  For the agents of King Arthur you have Merlin.  Merlin starts the game knowing who the spies are but if they find out who he is they can assassinate him for an evil win.  Merlin will try to persuade the agents of good towards correctly identifying the agents of evil without giving himself away.  The bad guys get "the assassin." At the end of the match the evil team gets one guess to discover who Merlin is, if they are right the assassinate him and steal victory!

The game has many more roles that you can incorporate to keep this game of spies fresh and fun.  If you've ever played Werewolf of Mafia, you will be at home with this style of game.  I highly recommend this title if you are a fan of the original.  If you don't mind yelling at your friends and family this game is for you!

Gears of War: The Board Game

Hello, and thanks for coming back to Roll to Hit.  My name is Cas, and this is my first article as a contributor.  Today I would like to tell you about the Gears of War board game.  This is a cooperative tabletop game in which two to four players take on the role of the heroes, from the Gears of War video game, in an attempt to survive and defeat the Locust Horde.  If you like Gears of War, miniatures, or co-op games, then this one might be for you.

The presentation of the game is fantastic.  The sturdy box, instruction manual, and game cards are covered with actual artwork from the Gears series.  If you are a die-hard fan, you might even recognize a few of the pictures.  The map tiles are wonderful representations of the destroyed world that the COG soldiers live in and present the players with many familiar locations.  The shattered streets of Jacinto, broken down building interiors, and the underground network of Locust caves are all represented in a way that will make any Gears fan feel right at home.

Then we have the minis.  I love minis, especially when they are detailed like this.  The heroes of Delta squad and the legions of the Locust horde are perfectly replicated on a small, and unpainted, scale.  If painting is your thing, good luck.

The game works like this...  You start by selecting a Mission card set, of which there are several.  These are based on key moments from the first two Gears games.  The mission card tells you which of the many game board tiles you will need, along with which Locust you will face, and the A.I. cards that control them.  That's right.  The bad guys run themselves, and they do a very good job of it.

After you collect what you need, you take the map cards, each of which represents one of the tiles, and shuffle them together, then flip them one at a time.  This ensures that the map is randomly generated.  Players then pick which hero they want to be (Marcus, Dom, Cole, or Baird) and place them on the entrance tile.  Locust are then spawned, based on number of players, at the Emergence Holes on each tile.  Finally, you shuffle the player deck, the Locust deck, and the weapons, and deal a hand of cards to each person.

Yes, it takes a while to set up, but trust me, it is worth it.  Once you get this far, determine who goes first, and go! A player's turn consists of several phases, starting with the Draw Phase, in which you draw two cards, up to your max limit.  Your hand of cards represents your life points, as well as your actions.  Next, you select a card from your hand and do one of three things, discarding the card in the process.  You can move two spaces, make one attack, or perform all of the actions on the card.  I would suggest always doing what is on the card, as it usually allows you to do more than one thing.  You could end up moving five spaces, or attacking three times, for example.  There are a few special actions you can do, like reviving a teammate or picking up ammo, but this also requires a card to be discarded.

Ok, so now you're done, and no, your friend does not get to go.  The bad guys do.  Flip over the top card of the A.I. deck, and prepare to get shot.  Each A.I. card dictates the action of a group of enemies.  For example, "Each Locust Drone attacks the nearest COG figure in line of sight." Just in case they can't do the action, there is always a second one, like "If no COG figure is in line of sight, move two areas toward the nearest COG figure, and then attack him." That's right.  You're going to get shot a whole bunch.  Thankfully you have a number of special abilities, and some friends, who can save you, possibly.

When you complete the objective on the Mission Card, you usually advance into a second, sometimes a third area.  This new map is constructed the same way as the first one and is connected to it.  You win if you complete all of the objectives listed on the Mission Cards.  You lose if your whole team wipes, so let's not die.  Rule one, stay in cover.  It gives you bonuses to defend.  To make an attack, you roll the listed number of attack dice for the weapon you are using, and then someone else rolls the defense dice for the target.  That's right.  Roll to Hit!  *Shameless self-promotion*

If your number of bullet holes is more than the number of their shields, they take the difference in damage.  Locust have a limited number of life points.  You, on the other hand, have to discard a card from your hand for each point of damage you take.  This severely limits your options, especially if you take more than one hit in a turn.

The game plays pretty smoothly, as the A.I. deck accurately simulates most of the tactics used by the Locust in the hit video games...perhaps too well.  This leads me to the next rule.  Rule two, stay together.  If you stray from your friends, you will die.  Most of the A.I. cards force the Locust to attack the NEAREST player.  If you run ahead, that will be you.  They will overwhelm you pretty quickly, since unlike you, they are not bound by range limits, and they do more damage.  Move together, stay in cover, protect each other, and stay alive.

As a hardcore Gears fan, I can attest to the fact that this game translates the tactical action of the games, particularly the story, into a board game format faithfully.  The biggest flaw is that, for some, the game may be too difficult.  Several of the A.I. cards allow the enemy to take several turns in a row.  Also, when you run out of cards, you are "Down but not out", and must wait for your friends to pick you up.  Unfortunately, this is a game breaker.  You can't draw cards when you are down.  In the video game, a revive restores you to full health.  Here, you revive with an empty hand, and since your friend used his turn to revive you, the Locust gets to go again.  This sets you up to get shot down again.  Welcome to an infinite loop.  We created a house rule that lets players draw their normal cards per turn when they are down, and we feel this balances the game out.

Final verdict: If you like Gears of War, or challenging board games that require teamwork, then you will probably enjoy this game.  If you're not a fan of Gears, I would recommend skipping this one.  I've played this a bunch with my Gears team, and we find ourselves falling into the same roles and using the same tactics that we used together in the video game.  Like I said before, it mimics the game pretty thoroughly.  Hope this helps you out, and thanks for stopping by Roll to Hit.

Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards: Duel at Mt. Skullzfyre

With a name like that, how can this review go wrong?  IT CAN'T!  Let me start by saying that I've played this game more times that I care to admit.  The game puts you into the role of an epic spell crafting wizard.  You battle your friends until there is one wizard left standing.  The main mechanic of the game is crafting the perfect spell to leave your friends in the dust.  Every spell has three components: a source, a quality, and a delivery.  This is basically a start, middle, and end of your spell.  The three parts of the spell come together and make a deadly spell full of damage, treasure, and gore-nados!

The game has more than one really great system.  When a player is eliminated from the fight, they start to draw dead wizard cards every turn.  If you get knocked out of the match early, then your dead wizard cards start to stack up. You cash them all in for bonuses at the start of the next round.  This starts you off with a clear advantage.  There are many different ways to win as well.  You can try to stack treasure (passive bonuses), you can go straight damage dealing, or you can try a healing build to outlast the other people at the table.

If there is one mistake you can make when you play the game, it's not realizing what the best part of the game is. When you pick a wizard card, you need to role play the hell out that the wizard.  When you cast the spell you are no longer you; you are Pisster the Pissed Wizard!  Cast an epic spell like Walker Time Ranger's Explodifing Cone of Acid!  Now that your friend's face is melting off, let’s hear your war cry Pisster!

I highly recommend this game to any outgoing group that likes to yell at each other from across the table.  It is pretty simple to pick up, and even if you are bad at the game, it has a built in handicapping system.  Pick a card, make up a voice, and fire off a wicked spell at the base of Skullzfyre Mountain.