Today lets look at a game that is thematically linked to Halloween!

Here is a AAR from the upcoming game War Party, play scary Goblins, uncover Undead Tombs fight against Humans, Dwarfs and others then go on quests and conquer the enemy. Lets see what happens!

 

It was a 3 player game today. The teams were Hal and Jon playing the forces of Good, while I played the Evil myself. Playing both sides is a little more taxing on the mind, but it does allow for greater coordination between allied forces.

Moving 2nd I had one extra basic unit of infantry. My quest cards dictated a little bit of my opening strategy which they often do. My quest card for the Undead, “Quest of Bravery” would have me sending my warrior hero, Shreadmar the Rott-Wolf into a dungeon alone to explore. The Goblins drew the quest card, “The Great Legion”. I needed to combine 20 units in one territory to complete that quest.
With these quests in mind, I decided very early that I would pressure the Humans from the north with my Undead and focus all my Goblin forces on the Humans from the west.

I decided to build just one expansion city (Goblin Stronghold and Undead Tomb) for each of my armies on the Human borders.
Saving all my money before the game went into inflation I was able to field an enormous horde of Goblins! I marched a total of 13 units of Goblin Warriors, 1 unit of Orcs (heavy infantry), 1 unit of Goblin Archers, and 2 units of Balista (the Goblin Siege weapons). Ahead of this massive army rode a unit of Goblin Wolf Riders, that was already putting early pressure on the Humans.

The Undead utilized a different strategy acquiring all three of their heroes. Shreadmar the Rott-Wolf, my warrior hero entered the game very early and set out to the Ancient Sanctuary (dungeon) to try and complete his “Quest of Bravery”. There he encountered a Treant which he subsequently reduced to splinters. All though he was wounded in the battle, Shreadmar was victorious. His quest reward allowed him to choose his specific treasure instead of drawing a random treasure card. Shreadmar being the most offensively natured warrior hero (of all warrior heroes) selected the “Glaive of the Ghoul Lord”, which matched very nicely with Shreadmar’s capabilities.

In addition to the heroes, I had reinforced my expansion tomb with a unit of vampires to join with 5 units of skeletons that had been part of my starting force. Carnissa the Wraith Queen and Fraclulon the Lich, my priestess and wizard respectively, entered the game shortly thereafter.

The Goblin homelands were reinforced with the “Ring of Carnage”, an expensive upgrade that gives all Goblin forces a +1 on their attack during the 1st round of combat. The Bonelands (Undead Capital) was also upgraded with the, “Pit of Eternal Burning Flesh”, the “Black Shrine”, the “Dread Stone” and eventually the “Tower of Dark Ritual”. These upgrades gave the Undead a number of advantages, such as rolls to spawn free units of Skeletons and a defensive wave of Fear against attackers trying to sack that any tomb.

It appeared very early that the forces of Good were trying to get all of their heroes in the game and combine them into one force. The Dwarves used the magical ceremony, “Summoning of the Brave” to teleport Papoomio their Gnome Mage, and Tyvolus their Dwarven Warrior all the way across the board near a Human expansion city.
The Humans did not build a city on either border of their enemy, but one in the middle. This approach typically doesn’t defend either border very well, but can defend both borders some what. It also allowed the Humans more access to the resource rich center of the game board. The placement of their lone city was ideal for my assault!

By mid-game 5 of the 6 enemy heroes were combined into one highly mobile force. They rode inside a chariot that was enchanted with their wizard’s speed spell, making the whole force move even quicker.
The “Good” heroes had already explored the “Haunted Ruins” but didn’t have much to show for destroying some lowly zombies, they set their sights on The Goblins as their primary target. The Dwarves had already been pushing hard against the Goblins with several units of Halfing Pony Riders. The Goblins had never bothered to put much defense on their border against the Dwarves as the marched with determination against the Humans.

The Humans were now retreating back into their capital as the vast Goblin Warparty was burning through their kingdom. In addition the Undead army reinforced by heroes was advancing on them from the other direction. In two turns the game would be over for the forces of Good as the Humans capital would be reduced to ashes! If only the Goblins could hold off the Dwarves and the fast moving heroes from both armies.
I missed a critical blocking move (a strategy to put some less valuable units out to slow down fast moving attackers) and before I could sack the Human capital the Goblin’s were defeated. Victory for the forces of Good!

Thanks for the contribution, keep them coming.  Oh and if you are wondering about this game, its available on kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1408460255/warparty?ref=live  . Its a fun, tense thought provoker of a game. Having just read interviews with the designer I’d say we have a winner here. The game plays fast, is easy to learn and some some deeper layers to it that make it a great multi player strategy game.