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.
