Recently in Mike's Reviews Category

While at Gen Con, I had the opportunity to sit down for a 30-45 minute demo of the combat and movement mechanics of Fantasy Flight Games' "Tannhauser: Operation Novgorod" expansion to its popular "Tannhauser" title.

The setting of Tannhauser is that World War I never ended.  To quote FFG's web site: "Tannhäuser is a tactical board game of paranormal investigations and Great War combat, pitting the forces of the Reich and the Army of the Union together in a struggle for control of the Obscura Cardinal Cornerstones, magical artifacts of immense power."  The "Operation Novgorod" expansion is a not-yet-released addition to the game.

Tannhauser takes place on a game board, using pre-painted miniatures, cardboard sheets representing the characters involved, cardboard counters (used to mark the location of debris, ammo, weapons, and the like), and 10-sided dice.  The image below depicts the basic components of the game and some artwork from the Operation Novgorod expansion:



Below is a typical character sheet.  In the bottom right corner, you can see the cardboard counters used to identify the character's special abilities, weapons, and ammunition he or she might be carrying. 

Just above that is a table of numeric values, to the right of which is another cardboard counter with a star on it.  This counter is used to mark damage to the character, by turning it counter-clockwise so that the star points to the next row down in the table.  Some characters have abilities that improve with damage, while most deteriorate.  Once a character has taken more damage than can be scored on the table, that character is considered dead and removed from play.



Tannhauser may look like a board game, but in play it's somewhere between a boardgame and a traditional miniatures game. This would make it a good "bridge" game for introducing less "hardcore" gamers to a more complex or traditional miniatures game.

The game board uses circles to indicate positions in the building/terrain where a character might move.  The circles of a matching color are considered to be in weapons range and within a character's line of sight.  Some circles have multiple colors, corresponding to the fact that they can be seen from different areas.  In the example image below, the two characters share matching colored circles and thus are considered in line of fire and potentially within weapons range. (Melee weapons require adjacent circles. Other weapons require a specific number of circles between the two characters for them to be effective.)



The example below illustrates how various circles may be visible from multiple areas.



When a character dies in Tannhauser, that character's weapons and ammo are dropped on the map in the circle where the character fell.  Other characters may pick up these weapons and ammunition and use them.

The combat model seems reasonably realistic, based on my 30-45 minute introduction to it.  If you open up with a machine gun at relatively close range on someone, there's a very good chance that someone is going to die.  Toss an explosive anywhere near them, they'll take damage. There are modifiers that allow for more damage or more hits.

During my demo with Tannhauser, 5 characters on each side were pitted against each other in an indoor setting.  It was fairly clear that when the number of characters on one side of the battle starts to outnumber those on the other side, the characters on the "losing" side will very likely continue to lose unless some very lucky rolls of the dice occur.  My understanding of the full "non-demo" version of the game is that you can call in replacements or reinforcements for the "non-critical" characters, which would help to even the odds a little.  Otherwise, a slight advantage seems to very quickly become a victory.

I found Tannhauser very simple to learn, easy to play, and (most importantly) fun.  My main concern for Tannhauser, based strictly on a 30-45 minute demonstration and NOT a full game or multiple games, is that there might be an issue of replayability here.  The game board certainly won't change between sessions.  The main characters, unless I missed something, don't change between sessions.  The only things I see changing between multiple sessions of the game are the dice rolls and the potential for critical items of equipment to change hands due to a character dying.  I'm not sure that's enough variation to keep the game interesting.  But again, I want to point out that mine is not a picture of the complete game, and there may indeed be a lot more to it than I'm aware of.  (Those of you who own and play this game regularly, please comment on this article about YOUR experience with it, because I don't want to sell this game short.)

On the whole, I thought it was an enjoyable game, reasonably quick to pick up (less than 5 minutes), allowing for some decent strategic and tactical thinking, and likely to be an excellent game to "bridge" traditional players into more-serious adult games.

The following article was imported from our old content management system on 08/10/2008. It may contain missing links and missing images which we do not plan to go back and correct.We apologize for any inconvenience.

Over Thanksgiving, I purchased Stronghold 2 for $19.99 from Office Max. I was in the mood for a real-time strategy game, something a little different than my usual sci-fi fare. Stronghold 2 certainly seemed to fit that bill. It featured medieval castles, catapults, trebuchets, archers, polemen, etc.

The graphics in the game are 3D and more than adequate to the task. It was very easy to tell units apart on-screen, buildings looked unique and recognizable, etc. Rotating the camera in the game proved to be rather difficult, so I rarely tried. It just wasn't worth the effort.

The sounds are also adequate and not overdone.

The controls are a bit strange. To select a unit, you left-click on it. To move it, you left-click where you want that unit to go. Most of the time, this works fine. Sometimes, however, this makes it difficult to select and move units that are located close together.

There appears to be a "tech tree" of sorts in the game, where you can initially make only spearmen and archers. Supposedly you can also make armored troops, swordsmen, and a variety of others. Unfortunately the manual doesn't explain this well and it's certainly not clear in playing. After playing several levels of the single-player campaign, I still can't make a mounted unit or a sword-swinging unit. I've no idea why or how. Worse, my AI opponents all seem to be able to produce these units in quantity, and their units seem to take 2-3x the damage mine do before dying.

In addition to the "invisible" tech tree, the game also suffers from a "wash, rinse, and repeat" mission design. That is, at the start of each mission, you begin with almost nothing. You have to scramble to gather resources, build defenses, and construct units to defend and/or attack. Meanwhile, the computer throws wolves (which eat archers and spearmen for breakfast), bandits (who can kill several of your units with one of theirs), enemy forces (which can kill several of your soldiers with one of theirs), time limits, and more at you. Once you've managed to beat the level, the cut scene explains that you've decided to move to another castle for the next mission (i.e., rinse away all your progress) where you start all over again (i.e., repeat).

Sometimes, the cut scenes make some very lame excuses for the "rinse" part. For example, after fighting my way through one map, my "character" and another decide that they need to use their enemy's castle because it's better located and will be easier to defend. Below is the castle they think will be easier to defend:

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The following article was imported from our old content management system on 08/10/2008. It may contain missing links and missing images which we do not plan to go back and correct.We apologize for any inconvenience.

Fantasy Imperium is a relatively new title published by Shadowstar Games, Inc. It is described as an Interactive Storytelling Game (ISG) of Historical Fantasy. It combines elements of roleplaying and wargaming, while being neither an RPG or wargame. It is set in Medieval Europe from the time of the Ancient World up until the 17th century.

In place of a game master, Fantasy Imperium uses a Storyteller. The Storyteller creates the plot of the story, writing an outline which consists of the main story goal, the villain, a list of scenes that occur along the way to the goal, and a climactic scene where the story's resolution will occur. The storyteller directs the action of everyone except the player characters.

Each player creates a player character, the role they will assume in the story, much as an actor plays a part in a movie. Characters have an inner need, such as the need to find love, and a main character flaw that prevents them from easily meeting that need, such as a distrust of others. As they progress through the story, the characters will overcome their flaws and attain their inner needs. Players determine their characters' needs and flaws, which allows both the players and the Storyteller to simultaneously tell their own stories.

To create a character, the player generates the character's Characeristics (Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, Intuition, Self Discipline, Reasoning, Ego, Awareness, Presence, and Attractiveness. For each characteristic, the player rolls a d100. Next, Skill Points are assigned, combat characteristics determined, etc. The character's income is determined, and starting equipment is assigned. The Storyteller determines the character's history.

Characters can have any of a wide variety of professions, including Animal Trainer, Artist, Clothier, Farmer, Fisherman, Fortuneteller, Jeweler, Lawyer, Miner, Prostitute, Trapper, Weaponcrafter, Knight, Longbowman, and Mercenary (to name but a few). These professions determine the character's skill sets, income, and skill points.

Fantasy Imperium uses a skill-based mechanic, with a percentage chance to complete a given task listed for every skill. Players choose their characters' professions, which determine the skills available to the character. As players gain experience, they can improve their skills.

For combat, the game uses hit location, combat maneuvers, and a large variety of weapons and armor appropriate to the time period during which the story is set. The combat is designed for use with miniatures and maps drawn on a playing surface. At the start of a combat round, an initiative roll determines who takes the first action. In an attack, once the attacker's action is taken, the defender has an immediate opportunity to react to the attack, normally choosing a defense. The combat mechanic includes rolls for the severity of the attack, the trauma it causes the victim, and the blood loss which results from it. The system seems to allow for some pretty dramatic combat scenes and long-term effects resulting from combat.

Magick is considered an illegal skill, punishable by death. Spellcasters risk not only death, but also burnout, insanity, and demonic possession. Those who choose to use magick anyway will find that the game offers 13 disciplines of magick and over 500 spells.

Movement and fatigue are modeled in ways similar to many RPGs and wargames. Similarly, there are healing mechanics and morale to deal with.

There is a spiritual element to the game as well. Characters may interact with angels and fallen angels, adding a Christian element to the game. The Church is described in the book as “the principle agent for good in the war against evil”.

The bulk of the book consists of information about the various weapons, magick spells, kinds of magic, armor items, mythical creatures, etc., that players may encounter.

The back of the book includes an index to the 420+ pages of content, making it easy to locate information of interest within the book.

I've not had an opportunity to play Fantasy Imperium yet, so you should take the rest of this article with a grain of salt and as they say in car commercials, realize that “your mileage may vary” if you actually play it.

Characters in Fantasy Imperium seem to have far more depth than in traditional RPGs. In addition to the wide range of professions, skills, etc., there is a spiritual element to the game. Because players are doing more than just completing a quest, it would seem that there is a greater depth to the game itself. Players aren't just defeating monsters but actually taking a stand in a war of good versus evil, working their way toward some kind of epic battle against an enemy.

Combat is incredibly detailed, modeling not only damage but the effects of weapon damage, including trauma, blood loss, and the like. While there might almost be “too much” detail for new players, new players could also simply agree to leave out certain elements of the documented game mechanic to simplify or speed up the combat if they desired. However, the detailed mechanic means that advanced players will be able to weave the effects of combat into the story they're telling, perhaps explaining why their character can't join the party when they go on to the final battle.

Although the book implies that magick is looked down upon in the game world, the fact is that the game includes a very rich system of magick and spells. This combination of “richness” and the obvious “stigma” against magick users would seem to imply that playing magical characters in the game would be quite a challenge. In many situations where a character in a typical RPG might automatically cast a spell (e.g., “light” spells in dungeons), the magick user in Twilight Imperium would probably choose to hide that ability and simply look around for a mundane solution to the problem (e.g., make a torch and light it up). Similarly, in combat situations the magick user might hold back if the combat is taking place in a town (where someone might report the witchcraft actions to the authorities and the character could be sentenced to death), but “let loose” during the final battle to avoid being killed.

Fantasy Imperium retails for $34.95 from the Shadowstar Games online store and is available through other game retailers.

Over the next several months, Shadowstar will be publishing a Storyteller's Guide, a book of adventures, their own customized dice, a storyteller's screen, and books of the "known world" during different time periods.

The following article was imported from our old content management system on 08/10/2008. It may contain missing links and missing images which we do not plan to go back and correct.We apologize for any inconvenience.

I've been playing NCSoft's Auto Assault MMORPG as much as I can for the last couple of weeks.  I've managed to take one character as high as level 18 in that time, and another to level 9.  Below is a mini-review and my general impressions of the game based on the time I've spent with it so far...


The game is set in a post-apocalyptic world where humans, mutants, and cyborgs are fighting it out for supremacy.  Players assume the role of characters in this world who fight their enemies, gather resources to make needed items, craft those items, and sell them.  There is something of a storyline within the game, but it is by no means a fixed and linear progression.  Players are free to go about doing whatever they like in the game world, though doing the pre-defined "missions" offered in the game serve to advance the story line and level up the character.

Players run a local client program on their PCs which interacts with a central game server shared by all the players online at that time.  Players can interact with one another and, under certain circumstances and with mutual agreement, fight one another.  The graphics in the game are on par with most current shooters but notches below games such as Half Life 2 or F.E.A.R. as one would expect from an MMORPG.  (Too much detail would likely require too much bandwidth.)

As your character gains levels, additional parts of the game world become accessible.


You can choose from 3 main classes in the game:  Biomek, Human, and Mutant.  Biomeks are cyborgs, part human and part machine. Their mechanical parts enable them to survive the contamination in the wastelands of the game.  Humans are like you and I, and are protected by contamination through electronic shielding and technology.  Mutants are naturally protected from the contamination in the world.

Each class has four sub-classes, which (although named differently) perform more or less the same functions.  The first class is a Fighter class.  These characters are optimized for combat.  The second class is the Builder class, which serves primarily to construct needed equipment in the game, and acts as a healer for the other classes.  The third is the "Mastermind" class, which controls an group of NPCs which help the character or its group attack and defend.  Finally is the "Agent" class, which is focused primarily on being hidden and being able to sap energy from its victims.

I've played both Fighter and Builder class characters.  If you're into action and combat, the Fighter is likely to be your favorite character.  If you're more into crafting, scavenging, and trading, the Builder will be your favorite.

If you ever played Earth and Beyond, this breakdown of character classes will seem very familiar.  In that game, we had pure fighters, builders, and explorers.  The Auto Assault fighters and Earth and Beyond fighters are essentially the same character type.  The Auto Assault Agent class is a lot like the Explorers in Earth and Beyond.  The Auto Assault Builder class is a lot like the Earth and Beyond builders.