Ok here goes nothing.  Without question among the list of biggest things to happen this last year in board gaming was the breakup of Fantasy Flight Games and Gamesworkshop, the merger of Asmodee and Fantasy Flight Games and their prompt announcement that they are getting into the Assemble and Paint miniature games market.  At least for me personally as I’m a huge fan of FFG, this was a big deal.  From these events FFG has spawned their latest collectible love child which they called simply Runewars The Miniature Game, an announcement that might answer the question of why these events took place in the first place, but I digress.

These events are big no doubt, even worthy of their own article perhaps but in my experience, gamers don’t really care so much about the business end of things when you get right down to it, so really the most interesting event was the announcing and now release of FFG’s new miniatures game, our topic of the day.

Creating this review has been a long and arduous process, one that I don’t believe is even in the ball park of complete and might never truly be.  It suffices to say reviewing collectible games in general is tough since your review is frozen in time, not accounting for anything that is released afterwards that could improve or make worse a game.  Collectible miniature games are even tougher as there is so much more to the hobby than just the game, in its own right it almost feels like the game and the miniatures should be entirely separate reviews.  We won’t do that however, instead this review will focus on the Core Set for Runewars, as some call it, the Wave 0 release.

I consider this a premature review and I will admit that right up front here and now, however, I felt it prudent to do the review earlier then later because I believe there are a lot of people out there, in particular Gamesworkshop fans who might have a hole in their dark hearts after the death of Warhammer Fantasy Battles but also fans of FFG’s other miniatures lines that want to know if the juice is as good as the hype in FFG’s latest creation.

Let’s be honest here, if there is one thing that is taking place right now is fanboy insanity, the hype machine is thick.  Objectively is thoroughly out the fucking window, hell I even feel the sting of it and its likely to make its way to this review is some fashion, but being the always vigilant internet Evangelist and giving a grand total of zero fucks about anyone’s feelings, I’m going to give you the Gamersdunegon.net take on FFG’s latest creation.

This review will be extensive and far more detailed then normal, so put on your reading glasses, sit back and enjoy.  Oh, and If this review upsets or offends your miniature gaming sensibilities, and you would like to complain,  please feel free to dial my comments hotline at 1-800-ZeroFucksGiven. <– just kidding, this is not a real number, please don’t call it!

Overview

Final Score:  (3.9 out of 5 Stars)

Runewars the miniature game falls into the rank and file fantasy battles lines of games, though right off the bat I can tell you that it has far more in common with Star Wars: X-Wing and Armada than it does with Gamesworkshops now defunct Warhammer Fantasy Battles which for the most part defined the genre.  Everything before Warhammer Fantasy is ancient history.  This fact in its own right makes Runewars a very unique entry into the market.  Suffice to say, while the game is rank & file and may even appear to be of the same stock as Warhammer Fantasy, Fantasy Flight Games has borrowed far more from their own miniature game lines, then they have from Gamesworkshop, not to mention broken more sacred cows then 4th edition D&D.

Runewars features FFG creations like movement/action dials that use a pre-programming (hidden movement) systems as we have in X-Wing.  It uses a more fixed unit based system where you pay for entire squads in certain formation as opposed to GW’s Warhammer style per model purchases.  It also makes use of tokens and effects for easier book-keeping as we see in most of their games, miniature or otherwise.  There is also cards for upgrades with fixed slots for each unit and of course in classic rebellious fashion once again FFG brings us specialty dice with symbols rather then numbers because, fuck you that’s why!

Suffice to say, when it comes to classic war miniature design, Runewars is a rebel in the genre for better or for worse.  The breaking from tradition goes much deeper, though perhaps only those of you that have spent a thousand hours in front of Warhammer miniatures might notice.  For one the miniatures don’t come on sprus and are designed with easy assembly (largely without glue) via a basic hole and peg system.  Poses are also in fixed positions, another words you are not going to be messing around with picking a position for your hands, body, heads etc.  The level of model detail and general layout of the models is designed very specifically for easier painting to cater to the novice resulting in a lower level of detail.  All of these things certainly break from tradition and might even piss off traditionalist (go figure).

Runewars is a very different than your daddy’s miniature game, that much is clear,  but in its heart and soul its very much chasing the same classic premise.  Players build their armies making a wide range of choices (getting wider with each expansion) and construct a fundamental strategy that they bring to a 6×3 battlefield.  Then the battle is on as units march in formation at each other, collide and the dice extravaganza begins.  Stuff dies, someone kills more stuff then the other guy and wins the game.  In terms of concept, this is a very traditional miniatures game, but much of the design and what leads you to the field of battles is quite un-traditional.

Runewars is also based on its own fantasy world, the same as several of their fantasy based games like Runewars the boardgame, Runebound and Descent.  With its own lore, covered in a pamphlet that comes with your core set, you have the basic platform for a fantasy world that defines where stuff comes from.  This too breaks from the traditional mega volume rulebooks and army books that are released for your old school miniatures game like pretty much everything from GamesWorkshop.

Components

Score: 
Tilt: 

Pros:  Components built to last, core set jam packed with goodies with an amazingly low cost of entry as well as a designed to be approachable by the novice hobbyist.

Cons: Miniatures are not as detailed as the high standards created by companies like GamesWorkshop and Privateer Press.

Of all the things that are tough to talk about and judge in this review, components definitely ranked quite high on the difficulty scale.  In particular because components are arguably one of the most important elements of a miniature game as its a defining element of the hobby to assemble and paint with tender love and care your precious miniatures.

The first step to making a judgement is that you have to decide the standard on which it should be based and perhaps more importantly how do you determine whether a shift from established traditions is good or bad?

I think its only fair to explain how I came to my determination.  Simply put, I have taken what is the best in the business component wise and measured it against Runewars.  Yes that means arguably Gamesworkshop miniatures,  which are among the best in the business.  GW are masters of their craft honed over the course of 30+ years and while I would personally argue that there are other candidates, I think as a measure of quality this is one of the most well known sources to be judged against and this is exactly what I have done.  I think its fair, I think its just.  If you are going to enter the miniature market place and tango with the big boys, you will have to fight on their terms.

Let’s first talk about the other components of Runewars.  The tokens, the cards, the rules & lore books, dials and everything else in the core set box.

Simply put, everything is of fantastic quality. These are components built to last and last they will.  I really only had one major beef with component quality and that was the dials themselves.  Its a minor quibble but the plastic stand piece that stands the dial up, rubs against the edges of the dial and after only a couple of games it has already damaged the bottom of the dial base.  When you get a new game and after two plays there is already something damaged, its annoying.  I suggest gluing the plastic stand to the dial to avoid this the first time you put them on.  Minor I know, but with FFG, component quality is almost always amazing so its rare I get the opportunity to bitch about something.

As for the Lore and Rules book, well they are both good and bad.  The traditional standard here is a big fat rules book that is not only extremely detailed and explicit but at least more than 2/3rds of it is “traditionally” dedicated to the hobby of paint and assembly and most importantly, the lore.  Now Runewars did come with a Lore book, but by comparison to what we get with most miniatures games, this can be described as a very light pamphlet that gives you a very high level birds eye-view of the lore.  To me the the size of this book was disappointing, but worse yet was the content.

Well written and detailed lore is absolutely vital to a miniatures game and I’m sorry to say as much as I tried to get into it and like it, the world of Terrinoth is a very boring and generic place. This tiny pamphlet did little to inspire creativity in a game, that is as much a game as a creative hobby as a game,  which is terrible news for miniature fans.  Miniature games are after all cousins of role-playing games and lore is paramount.  We need more, much, much more.  Now what was there wasn’t poorly written or anything, it was certainly enough to give you a taste with a bit of pizzazz, but in general the world of Terrinoth is just not very interesting at all at the moment.  Its a walking, talking cliche and at best can be described as incomplete.  We don’t even get a proper world map to look at.

To be fair however, the cliche was born somewhere and certainly while the world of Warhammer Fantasy is filled with its own mind numbing cliches from the age of D&D and Lord of the Rings, they get a pass because well, they also created a lot of them with Warhammer. There was a lot of very original and very cool concepts in Warhammer Fantasy that jazzed up the cliches and that just doesn’t exist in Terrinoth.  Where we had Vampire Counts and Egyptian themed Tomb Kings in the Old World, by comparison the Waiqar are “standard skeleton/undead people”.  There really is no culture or uniqueness to them, they are at best, generic.  The human army doesn’t do a whole lot better, they are just your standard run of the mill “Knights in shining armor” from a fairly uniform medieval fantasy world with little to get excited about.

Now while the Lore book and Lore in general was disappointing, the rules books, one for learning to play and one reference was a breath of fresh air and this is one change to tradition I appreciated.  Gamesworkshop like many miniatures game publishers have this uncanny ability to write a 600 page book and still leave an endless amount of unanswered questions, as well as confuse the living fuck out of you not to mention that they create crappy indexes as a cherry on top.  Gamesworkshop was notorious for doing this and despite 30+ years of writing rules-books they absolutely suck monkey balls at it.  You could argue that this was all the justification FFG needed not to do it.

Runewars on the other hand gives you a 20 page booklet and after reading through it once and playing two games, I’m quite certain it will remain in the box 90% of all games going forward.  It’s clear, it’s easy to understand, it leaves very few unanswered questions and its super easy to reference.  I Ioved it, it really just made the game easy to get into and most importantly made the rules easy to remember.  A++ for the rulebook.

Ok now its time to get into the real stuff here, the miniatures.  I know this is going to be controversial but unless we are going to play favorites here and hold FFG to a different standard then everyone else we have to be honest and objective.

I will say this upfront, despite everything I’m going to say right now, I actually love the Runewars miniatures.  For me, every objective issue I list here, is not one I personally share, but the goal here is to make an objective review, not be a fanboy.

The first thing you will notice about Runewars miniatures is that they are not on sprus, they come in baggies in ready to assemble, fixed poses which you will not have the option to change unless you bust out the razor and green stuff to start making conversions.  I personally loved this, as I hate dicking around with cutting miniatures off sprus and spending hours just putting them together, but I can understand that in a creative hobby like miniatures gaming, making customization more difficult is a big no no.

The decision here is likely one of catering to a less experienced or perhaps better to say, not experienced consumer.  Its clear that this decision makes Runewars more approachable, more likely for a gamer to take his first steps into the world of paint & assemble miniatures which I think is the right move for FFG.  That said, its a kick in the ass of a sacred cow that is going to turn off a lot of miniature hobbyist and rightfully so.  Tradition is tradition, this market needs an infusion of players, but not at the price of leaving its core audience in the cold.  If your a veteran miniature gamer, you might find some of this pretty disappointing.

Miniature gaming is a hobby first, a game second.  The creative element where players create their own unique version of an army is of utmost importance to hobbyists.  I would argue this is done through painting, but I understand that assembly, posing your mini’s and making custom choices is part of this creativity.  It’s simply not to be fucked with as far as veterans are concerned (I get it) and FFG’s decision to not cater to this audience of 30+ years of fandom I think is going to put more than a few frowns on people’s faces.

Now talking about the quality of the molds, I personally believe them to be extremely well done, but I must point out that they are not really comparable to the level of detail we see from Gamesworkshop and other miniature game makers.  If you take a Runewars miniature and line it up with a Warhammer miniature, there is no contest, the Runewars miniature looks more like a boardgame piece then the piece of 3d art that GW produces.  I don’t think most people getting into the hobby today would find themselves anything but impressed by Runewars mini’s but to the experienced eye and hobbyist who has spent time painting GW mini’s in particular in the last couple years knows how far the art form of miniature sculpting has come.  Runewars really just does not stack up.

With that said, the mini’s are definitely above grade for FFG, these are without question the nicest mini’s they have ever produced and for the purposes of gaming,  personally I think they are perfect.  Painting these mini’s is going to be a much simpler fair and one advantage of this simplification is that the time from opening the box to having an army of painted mini’s on the battlefield has been cut by 1000%.  I mean properly constructed and painted miniature army for GW took me the better part of a year and half to paint (yes I’m slow) and I’m quite certain I’m going to have Runewars rocking it color style inside a few weeks.

Its also worth pointing out that the level of detail really only matters upon extremely close inspection, a simple fact of the mini hobby and this is true for all mini games.  When your looking at a Warhammer army on the table from a players perspective you are not going to notice the 85 layers of detail on the face of a mini and so really if you want to be practical about it, why bother making them so detailed?  Its the old adage, if a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to see it.. but I digress.

The point and the answer to this question is again, because that is what the hobby is, detailed.  Very very detailed.  Miniature gamers are a meticulous bunch that push the art form forward and to them, this is a very important sacred cow and FFG’s move to scale it back might be seen a step backwards.  I think people will adapt and adjust, but the grumbling from the GW community about the quality of the sculpts is almost certain to be debated.

There is also some logic to this hobby first, gaming second approach most miniature gamers have.  In the end you are spending far more time preparing for battle then you are having one.  A game takes a couple of hours, painting an army takes.. well, it takes a lot longer.  So its understandable that this side of the hobby is so important to them.  That said, I think its very much FFG’s intention to flip that upside and make Runewars more about the game then the hobby.  A controversial move, but one I personally support.  I just don’t know that my opinion is representative of the community at large, I have my doubts about that.

For me personally there is a level of detail that miniatures reach, for which, going beyond makes little difference.  FFG has made high level of detail miniatures, going beyond this, really does nothing for me but to be fair, I fall into the category of people who see this as a game first and a hobby second (if a hobby at all) as I believe FFG intends it to be.  What doing the opposite it does for Gamesworkshop is make their game way more expensive and that is a far bigger negative to me then a lower level of detail.

To be fair and objective however we have to say it so its clear.  Runeware miniatures are not as detailed as Gamesworkshop miniatures. Period.

Ok I think that about covers components.  I think my conclusion is that after all considerations and comparisons, what FFG has created here is a very low cost miniature game that is easy to get into, has great quality and is more about the game, then the quality of the sculpts.  No it doesn’t exceed and perhaps even reach industry standards as they are today, but I don’t believe they where aiming for that, so how can you blame them for not achieving a goal, they never set in the first place.  They want people to buy, assemble and paint miniatures quickly so they can enjoy the game, its a perfectly reasonable goal.  Their target aren’t artistic hobbyist, their target is gamer’s and I think they have chosen wisely.

Gameplay

Score: 
Tilt: 

Pros: An amazing and diverse set of mechanics that creates fun, easy to get into strategies.  Despite the dice, battles are won largely by your wits.

Cons: A few asymmetrical balance issues you might find reason to gripe about.

When it comes to gameplay I think its only fair that if we compared the miniatures to Gamesworkshop mini’s, we should do the same when it comes to gameplay.  Unfortunately this will be a wildly unfair contest.  If there was one thing Gamesworkshop truly sucks at its creating engaging gameplay.  The yahtzee fest that passed as a game that was Warhammer Fantasy was an embarrassment to game design, and Runewars blows the fucking doors off by comparison.  So , instead of this comparison, lets just judge it on other miniature games from FFG lines like X-Wing and Armada as much of the player base will come from here anyway and of course Runewars is based mechanically on these games as well.

Runewars is effectively played on three levels mechanically, much in the way X-Wing and Armada is.  There is list building, which is of course the construction of your force where you build into it various strategies and synergies.  Then there is the actual combat system, with hidden action/movement via dials, template based movement, special unit powers, upgrade cards etc.. all that combine to make of the bulk of the gameplay.  Finally there is the mind game element, the sort of deduction and anticipation mechanics which deal with the fact that decisions are not made in the course of the round, but rather prior to the round starting in the planning/pre-programming phase, at this point an FFG tradition when it comes to mini games.

Nothing to my knowledge exists like this in any other miniature game except in those found in FFG lines and game systems based on their signature mechanic (I could be wrong).  Runewars however has the luxury of not only using this fantastic core mechanism, but doing so after the experiences gathered by FFG designers from the previous two versions of these systems.  In Runewars, it really shows as it is the most advanced and dynamic version of the mechanic to date.  Dare I even say an improvement over the amazing Star Wars Armada.

I think I could make this article quite short, aside from a few quirks and arguably questionable balancing, Runewars is the best version of FFG’s signature miniature game mechanics, referred to as the flight system, to date and without question.  They have really nailed it home here and while in my first impressions article I got hung up on a few things like Runes for example, after follow up plays of the game I have discovered that their are layers upon layers, upon layers of logic, mechanics, strategies and tactics in the core gameplay of Runewars.  Runes are still my least favorite mechanic, but its not nearly as bad as I made it out to be in my first impressions article.

There is a ton to discovery to be made in Runewars mechanics and strategies, its very clear that for every move there seems to be a clear counter move.  So much thought has gone into each unit, each dial, each ability and there is an awesome merging of it all into what amounts to a deeply rich gaming experience.  I started off quite apprehensive about this game, but several plays later I’m delighted and amazed by how much fun and how much depth there is and this is just inside the core set which by all definitions is mostly a demo game.

Now grant it I cheated a bit, as a blogger, I have the luxury of a little bit of a bigger budget then most gamers to ensure I always have something to write about so I went straight for 3 Core sets.  Which I imagine is a much different experience than having 1 core set.  None the less, I’m absolutely enamored with this game and while not all the hype about this game is deserved, when it comes to the gameplay, I whole heartedly agree with the consensus, this game is amazing.

I could already write a book about some of the ways this game suprised me and the little secrets I have discovered along the way, but It almost feels like it would be a spoiler to reveal it all.  This is a game you really need to  experiment with and in a way its almost kind of a built in right of passage, a part of the game to discover it on your own, its a bit rude to spoil it for people.

Still I have to mention a few of my favorite gameplay elements here, this is a review after all.

First without question separating the dials into two sections where you have a main action and a supporting bonus modifier or action is, while simple, genius.   This just makes the choices that much tougher and creates a way for each action to carry risk vs. reward, with built in timing, making even simple decisions delightfully albeit painfully tough.  Not only are you choosing your action which may involve movement, an attack, a shift, reformation, special action (on and on) but you are also picking your initiative and how that action will be modified.  Hence each action has a built in speed variance and while at first it was a bit confusing, there is so much logic to how everything works.  It gives each unit a distinct feel as well as purpose, but more than that it gives units variation in terms of how you execute your battle plans.  The combos here are so many its hard to imagine that anyone can call this game simple, yet rule wise it certainly is.  The reality is that it falls into the category of easy to learn, but impossible to master, as I often say “the design sweet spot”.

Next up is the simplification of the Rank and File system, by creating simple and effective rules for things like lining up, using terrain, movement, charges and re-forms.  This system while simple, is something that was never really evolved in Warhammer Fantasy and felt stiff and unrealistic.  Its almost embarrassing how much better this system is to anything that GW was able to produce in 30+ years of design.  It works so well, I would expect any game designed in the future that doesn’t do it this way is going to have a lot of explaining to do.  It puts you in a position of focusing on strategy rather then trying to figure out how the rules actually apply.  Its simply put, a beautiful piece of design, simple, to the point leaving few unanswered questions.

Now I will say I wasn’t crazy about the connecting puzzle piece tray and while you might chalk that up to a component flaw, because its such a fundamental element of game play, I put it here.  They stick and makes it kind of awkward to remove trays.  Its fiddly and it gets in the way, but more importantly its non-nonsensical.  There really is not reason to force the connection of the trays.  They were going for a system that made the units easier to move, but instead resulted in a system that is annoying to work with.  A minor flaw, but a flaw non the less.

Finally, last but not least is my absolute favorite element of the game, the mind game.  The pre-programming of actions is among my favorite mechanisms in games and in Runewars this concepts adds so many layers to the game to a point that you often make decisions by looking into your opponents eyes and trying to read him then you do looking at the tactical situation.  This is a game about juking, faking and trying to surprise your opponent with your dial.  Games are literally won and lost this way and often doing the unexpected is the key to winning.  While not exactly a mechanic, this atmosphere is created by the mechanics and I think in many ways its one of the most important elements of Runewars.

When it comes to miniature war games we can’t skimp on the sure to be eternally debated topic of balance.  Is the game balanced, how does it balance, is x or y unit too expensive or too cheap.  You know, the usual stuff.  If you have spent any time playing miniature games, this is going to all sound very familiar and if you are a Warhammer Fantasy Battles player, then you know just how horribly out of balance miniature games can get because you have played without question the worst of the bunch.

My take on Runewars is that by far and large it is one of the most balanced assemble and paint miniatures I have ever played, but this is a far cry from “balanced” in board game terms.  Suffice to say, miniature games suffer from asymmetric mechanic blending that simply can never be perfectly balanced from game to game, at least not to any sort of consensus on the topic.  In the case of Runewars its actually even more sensitive as each card upgrade you add can easily throw the entire thing off the rails.  The fact that they achieve any semblance of balance at all is nothing short of a bloody miracle.

More to the point though its a game of list building and it can be so that while the game is balanced, you and your opponent may have lists that might very well not be, a part of collectible miniature games that always has impact.  I don’t think you can blame the game for that, but strictly put, not every game of Runewars you play will be balanced, list building is going to affect the fairness of a game even if you become proficient at it.  There are just going to be those times when despite both players building great lists, one player will have a clear advantage as a result of the blending of the two lists.  Its just the way it is in these games, an inherent part of miniature gaming that can heavily burden a gaming experience.

Right now I think the main issue with the game is that its meant to be played at 200 points and while I would argue a miniature game should remain balanced regardless of how many points you play at, this might be asking too much of it.  I believe if you play a 3×3 fight using just the core set, you are going to get a fairly tight game, its clear the core set itself was tested heavily.  With 2 core sets there is a bit of an offset that favors the humans and I think this is largely because the human army relies less on synergy then the undead army and the higher point count you get to, the more redundancy is necessary for the undead to be successful.  Given equal skill I think the game favors the Human armies ability to leverage dice odds over the specialties of using synergized elements like Blight and Panic in that weird 150-180 point range.  In a sense, the Skeletons are harder to play because of this aspect, but can potentially be devastating if and when the synergies are pulled of.  If you don’t pull them off, you chances of winning are greatly reduced in a straight up dice chucking match.

My personal friends argue with me on this matter and I think I can say that I can’t conclusively say this is true.  Its certainly debatable and given that perhaps the definition of balance is that there are good arguments on both sides to claim which is best.  As long as their is no consensus, perhaps that means the game is in fact balanced.  I have personally played the skeletons 6 times at this point, 5 of which where done only with the core set content and the first match I won was when we introduced proxies and used upgrades from the future releases.  I believe the game becomes a lot more stable with the upcoming content which of course is not part of this review.  In fact for the purpose of this review, the Waiqar have never won a game in my group to date.  Its not until we introduced expansion content that this changed and the Waiqar finally won one.

At 200 points with expansion content however, the Undead really come into their own and while I will not say it overthrows balance, I will say that that it allows synergies to be far more reliable and very unlikely to fail outright.  It really becomes a game of leveraging your blight correctly rather then hoping you don’t fail to get your synergies going through unlucky dice rolling.

In a 200 point game you have enough on the battlefield that if one of you units get caught in an unplanned position, your ability to synergize isn’t shut down entirely, you will have other units that can continue to work off each other and pick up the slack. More importantly you’ll be able to triple down on things like Archers or Lancers, which are devastating in larger numbers and dirt cheap to field.  You really just need the plastic to do it and right now in the core set (wave 0) environment that really means you need to invest in 3 core set to complete a proper 200 point army.  I’m not sure I would recommend that, but it does help to even the playing field.

Still even with that said, at round 170-180 points despite the undead having never won to date in my gaming group, most matches are not complete blow outs.  Its not like the humans are tearing it up uncontested.  Given that the Undead army is a bit more specialized, perhaps requiring a bit more experience with the game to play well, the balance may very well always be there, you just have to know how to tap into it.  At this point we are all a bunch of noobs and with the human army you really can arguably get away with just “charging” your opponent and out rolling him.

I also believe the real strength of the undead army really isn’t blight, its a part of it of course, this mechanic is tailor made for them but really their greatest strength is their ability to both hand out panic and resist it, as well as severely out field their competition. Undead units are much cheaper and they are far more effective in small numbers than the humans in smaller numbers.  Panic in particular however more often than not is the  way the undead army gains a positional advantage on the field and for them its a pretty reliable mechanic that they can tap into thanks to the reanimates secondary ability on attack to hand out panic and upgrades like Terrifying Herald which while expensive are very good at making things difficult in a fight of attrition.  Leveraging Panic in combination with Blight which can be used both offensively and defensively is tricky, but when timed correctly its far more devastating then someone who throws a bunch of dice and lets lady luck do the fighting for him.  Panic and Blight are reliable, dice rarely are, unless of course your my friend Ola who seems to have made a pact with the devil.

In conclusion in terms of balance, I think the game has some debatable elements but for the most part I think I can safely say the game is balanced enough to keep you coming back.  Certainly enough that any argument you make can be countered to give you food for thought.  Runewars is a game of skill, tactics and a bit of luck, as all good miniature games should be.  In the case of Runewars however lucky gets the short end of the stick here, the dice are stable and results are fairly predictable.  You will have the occasional shocker, but you aren’t doing the double or triple rolling thing as we see in a lot of miniature games where lucky gets far more opportunities to rear its ugly head (I’m looking at you X-Wing!)

Theme

Score: 
Tilt: 

Pros: Strong mechanic connection to the fantasy battle theme.  Its easy to get your army painted and on the table to get the full enjoyment from the games visual intentions.

Cons: The Lore is dull and unfinished, its not going to inspire you.

Talking about the theme of Runewars is a double edged sword, after all its a game of fantasy miniature battles and mechanically it performs amazingly.  But theme isn’t just about a mechanical connection, its also about the basis of the game, the lore, the story behind the game and how that inspires our imaginations.  Runewars to me is split between being a fantastic thematic representation of a fantasy battle while simultaneously being plagued by a relatively generic and uninspiring fantasy world.

In the end, for me, thematic representation through mechanics to bring out the feel of the game is far more important then the backdrop.  Sure, the lore of the generic humans and skeleton people is uninspiring and bland, but once you put those miniatures on the table and start pre-programming dials, it creates an amazing illusion of being a commander behind a massive force clashing into their enemy.  The tactics and strategies, the out guessing of your opponent’s actions, the formations and special powers of the units all form a fantastic gaming experience true to the sense of epicness that we look for in a game like this.

It may even be worth pointing out that while I love the lore of Warhammer Fantasy, I rarely played the game, despite having a painted army ready to go.  This was mainly because while I loved the backdrop, the game itself was kind of a drag and had a tendency to suck the joy out of the room.  So clearly, a wonderfully written piece of lore can’t save a game, but I believe an amazing game experience can do wonders to inspire the imagination and even amidst a boring generic fantasy world get you excited to play.

Of course its a bummer that we can’t get both and its sadder still if you consider that if anyone can create an amazing world full of original and creative lore its Fantasy Flight Games.  Just look at the fantastic work they have done with Android, sure future techno hackers isn’t my thing, but you can’t say peep about it not being original and inspiring.  Hell I read the lore book even though I don’t play any of the games!  Suffice to say I have to give some negative points for Runewars lore as far as theme goes, I think FFG can do better and they should have done better.  I think it was a mistake to base this on their Runebound world, even though there is obviously a lot of logic to doing so for them as a business.  Its just not a good enough setting for a miniatures game.

In conclusion I can honestly say that for me, lore is an overlookable matter.  It’s not the world I would have chosen, but its not a deal breaker in the light of the quality of the game itself.  Certainly their is room for improvement but the juice is in the game and when it comes to Runewars the juice is fantastic.  I feel a pressing urge to collect, to paint and to play, this is the feeling you want an assemble and paint miniature game to give you.  The battles that Runewars offers are epic and full of life, with endless strategy, tactics and presence.

Replay-ability and Longevity

Score: 
Tilt: 

Pros: The blending of mechanics and asymmetrical units and components create a vast sea of possibilities.

Cons: You’ll need more than one core set to really find the game, collecting is without a doubt required to get the most out of the game.

Longevity of a miniature game is going to be pretty tough to predict given all we have to work with is a wave 0 core set.  Still, its clear to me that the game is set up for it in three very distinct ways.

First and foremost, despite the lore being a let down, it is for the most part wide open.  They have not written themselves into any corners which gives FFG the opportunity to be creative, think outside of the box and add into the game anything they want and make it cannon since they control the IP.  This is a fantastic opportunity to expand this game into any direction they like and I suspect this is exactly why the lore has been left wide open with a lot of question marks.  This world is far from finished and while we know that we are getting 2 more armies in the near future, there is lots of room for plenty more.  FFG may yet surprise us with the backdrop to Runewars.

Secondly the mechanic is so diverse, that their is design opportunity up the ass in this game.  Its a designers wet dream really, in particular with the way units are broken down by special ability, formations, upgrades and the double sided dial.  The amount of combinations that can be created is seemingly infinite and if there is anyone you can count on to expand the shit out of this game its FFG.  They have left the door wide open design wise and created a flexible and dynamic mechanic that can be used to represent just about any concept you can think of.  There really is no telling what they could create with it.

Finally and perhaps most importantly, this is not a IP that is in danger of ever leaving FFG.  This isn’t part of some sort of deal, or negotiated contract.  This is their world.  They answer to no one but the fans and they can do with it as they please.  This is a big deal, in particular for FFG that more typically works with existing IP’s that have years and years of legacy built into them.   This is their world and that is an important distinction from other games even in their miniature lines like Star Wars, an IP license they could very well lose one day ending their control over their own games.  We have already seen this happen once with Gamesworkshop, an IP they lost, that among its casualties included wonderful games like Forbidden Stars which never even got a much needed expansion.

In terms of replayability, Runewars like all of their miniature lines already has a built in foundation that very clearly begs to be explored.  I believe Runewars will get the same treatment like Armada and replaybility will grow out of it in the same way.  Each time a new unit is introduced with new upgrades and dials, the game changes and needs to be re-explored as old avenues are re-openned.  More than that though I believe their is room for elements like Campaign sets, also something we got that truly expanded the gaming experiance for Armada.  You have other platforms on which to base some assumptions as well like X-Wings epic play or Mission play.  Runewars has built into it objectives and as you can imagine, more will be released at some point growing the gaming experience in new directions.

Simply put, I think the replayability here is endless, Runewars is not a game that will dull and while I expect it will certainly phase in and out of popularity in gaming groups as all games do, like X-Wing and Armada, I believe it will always remain on my shelf waiting for the itch to be scratched.  I have no doubt about Runewars dynamic gameplay being endlessly replayable, FFG’s are masters of creating such games and Runewars may be their most imaginative and dynamic game yet.

Conclusion

Runewars is definitely not without its flaws, I have my beef with the lore and there are a few very minor issues I haven’t mentioned because this review is already waaaay to long.  Suffice to say however, Runewars overcomes its shortcomings by bringing us the most important element of a miniature game with near perfection.  Gameplay.  This is where this game shines, leave it to a boardgame company to design one of the most playable assemble and paint miniature games on the market and show everyone else how its done right.

Sure, it’s not quite the hobby game we are accustomed to seeing enter the market.  The miniature sculpts are not quite up to standard of the industry and some limitations like static poses are going to annoy a few people.  We are missing our usual fat army books and mega volume core book too, but for all that is missing the most important bits are there. That said, these miniatures look great, painting them is a joy and I have absolutely no doubt that FFG will continue to step up their efforts and bring us better and better mini’s as time goes by as they have with X-Wing and Armada.  This is FFG’s first entry into the Assemble and Paint mini market and in my eyes, its an amazing achievement not just as a first effort, but in general, it has created a new standard in the hobby.  Its not a standard based on the sculpts of their mini’s but one focused on gameplay, a place where most assemble and paint mini efforts fail pretty regularly in my eyes.

Certainly there is a ton of hype and fanboyism surrounding this game, but I believe its justified.  I look at this game and I see a lot of opportunity for some amazing gaming experiences and while I honestly can say I’m really not the best representative from the assemble and paint community, as a general gamer, to me this game has made just the right compromises to get me involved and the truth is that ordinarily I would not be interested in an assemble and paint miniature game at all.  Runewars has changed my mind, an achievement in its own right and I suspect fundementally one of the goals of FFG’s effort here.  They have created a game that lets you ease into it as a novice and this was exactly what they were going for.  I think my faith in FFG has a lot to do with my conclusion about Runewars, but while it’s not yet the game it will one day be, it’s clear that FFG intends to give it all the support and love it deserves to have a bright future.

It remains to be seen if the assemble and paint hobby community embraces Runewars, I’m skeptical, but given its target audience and goals FFG has set for it, I think it has a fighting chance.  What we have here is a bonafide smash hit in my novice eyes, but whether that translates to a hit among experienced miniature gamers is hard to predict.   Like all assemble & paint miniatures, it’s usually not the release that matters so much as the longevity of the support and dedication of the publisher to push it forward beyond its infancy.  Few games in the miniature market make it that far, but FFG has a proven track record of success and they have infused this game with the same endearing qualities of games like X-Wing and Armada that to me are among the best games ever made.

Gamesdungeon.net gives this the seal of approval, if you’re a miniatures game fan, this is one you cannot pass up, it begs to be played.  If you’re a casual gamer looking for your first experience, while I would personally still recommend X-Wing over Runewars, if you want to get into painting, this is definitely the way to go.