[Board/Tactical Game]: BattleLore, reviewed by ShannonA (5/5)

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/12/12616.phtml

Shannon Appelcline's Summary:

A new tactical fantasy war game, that's light, quick to play, colorful, and very well designed.

Go to the full review for more information.

[buzz]

Phenomenal review, Shannon. Well-organized, thorough playtestibng, and great pics. This is a model review.

I'm not even much of a boardgamer, and I'm awfully tempted to get BattleLore.

[Skywalker]

Originally Posted by buzz

Phenomenal review, Shannon. Well-organized, thorough playtestibng, and great pics. This is a model review.

I'm not even much of a boardgamer, and I'm awfully tempted to get BattleLore.

I think one of the most interesting aspects of Battlelore is the combination of war game, board game, card game and RPG elements (though I think despite the seemingly high reference to RPGs, RPGs are the least represented). As such, it is not only a good introductory product but also a good crossover product from different types of gaming. It also manages to do this without being explicitly a collectible game (though I imagine that it will still hurt the pocket of many of its fans)

[cfarrell]

One quick thing I noticed ...

The game also comes with two lore cups which you use for holding lore tokens. It's a convenient method to hide your count of tokens from your opponent without needing a big screen.

I think your Lore tokens are actually supposed to be public, and your opponent can ask you how many you have in your cup. I was a little surprised when I read that rule.

I'm slightly less enamored of the figures (which are all grey) and banners (both sides use the same colors). I wish the banners were a little more distinctive, perhaps using different shades of red, blue, or green, so the difference really struck you. Compared to Memoir '44, where you never have to even think about which unit belongs to whom, things can be just a touch murky in BattleLore.

I'm also not particularly taken with the generic, highly D&D-derivative world. I gather some of the Days of Wonder folks have great nostalgia for the old days of D&D, and that was part of the inspiration for the game. Personally, though, I just find it bland. I quit playing D&D and moved to Arcana Evolved to escape it.

But system-wise, I'm quite taken with it for now. I think it's done a great job of focusing the slightly unwieldy C&C:A game (deleting leaders was a good move), the rulebook is amazing, and setting aside some minor usability issues the overall presentation is fantastic. I haven't been a huge fan of the whole Command & Colors range of games in the past (probably my negative experience with Battle Cry), but C&C:A and BattleLore have really grabbed me.

[bwridge]

You know, while I am a big fan of Memoir '44, I hesitate to get involved with Battlelore because of Borg's card mechanics.

In M44, you can rationalize the card play as a simulation of the breakdowns in communication that occasionally plagued armies of the time. You could easily say, "Damn, my radioman was killed so I can't give them orders," and view your lack of options as a feature of the game. But in a fantasy milieu... does this comm breakdown make sense? Wouldn't there be psychics to handle this sort of thing? Or magic?

I don't know... maybe my complaint is silly. But if was playing BL and I couldn't move my left flank for most of the game because I didn't get the right cards, I think I'd be far more likely to be critical of the game than I would when the same situation occurs in M44.

Brian

[Skywalker]

Originally Posted by bwridge

But in a fantasy milieu... does this comm breakdown make sense?

My military knowledge is limited but I would say yes.

The real purpose of the mechanic however is to increase the playability of the game by avoiding overwhelming a player with options. In my mind, this justifies its inclusion in any C&C game.

[Skywalker]

Originally Posted by cfarrell

I'm also not particularly taken with the generic, highly D&D-derivative world. I gather some of the Days of Wonder folks have great nostalgia for the old days of D&D, and that was part of the inspiration for the game. Personally, though, I just find it bland. I quit playing D&D and moved to Arcana Evolved to escape it.

I am not sure I would say that BL has a highly derivative D&D setting except that they both have traditional fantasy settings derived from the likes of Tolkien, which to be honest are used in many other gaming products.

I actually found the mix of medevial France to be an unexpected angle. I am not sure what to make of it but it kind of reminds me of "Ash: A Secret History" where our historical setting is revealed to have a number of "fantastical elements". I will be interested to see whether the expansion continue the distinction with historical units and fantastical ones being seperate.

[cfarrell]

Originally Posted by Skywalker

I am not sure I would say that BL has a highly derivative D&D setting except that they both have traditional fantasy settings derived from the likes of Tolkien, which to be honest are used in many other gaming products.

I was going to call it vaguely Tolkien-esque, but then I realized that's not the case. It's got the standard fantasy Goblins and Dwarves, also used by Tolkien, but the D&D core classes that BattleLore quotes directly are peculiar to D&D rather than to fantasy in general. In fact, the D&D core classes bear little relation to any traditional fantasy, one of the reasons I find them so off-putting.

Anyway. This is neither here nor there, really; to me, I think the fantasy "backstory" is not a big part of BattleLore as it is now (as Shannon points out). It's mostly about pushing around units and whacking people with them. It'll be interesting to see how this develops, if Days of Wonder tries to develop a BattleLore backstory with the many promised expansions, or if it'll remain a game about blasting people with cool figs and cards.

[Skywalker]

Originally Posted by cfarrell

Anyway. This is neither here nor there, really; to me, I think the fantasy "backstory" is not a big part of BattleLore as it is now (as Shannon points out). It's mostly about pushing around units and whacking people with them. It'll be interesting to see how this develops, if Days of Wonder tries to develop a BattleLore backstory with the many promised expansions, or if it'll remain a game about blasting people with cool figs and cards.

I agree. I think the RPG aspect is the weakest of the types of gaming that BL attempts to cover. However, it sounds like it might receive more attention through Heroes (personalised figures, maybe with the capacity to develop) and Campaigns (story arcs played out through a series of battles). I think both could be very interesting ideas.

[Con man]

Originally Posted by buzz

Phenomenal review, Shannon. Well-organized, thorough playtestibng, and great pics. This is a model review.

I'm not even much of a boardgamer, and I'm awfully tempted to get BattleLore.

Totally agree superb review.