Games about warriors and magicians. Board game war of magicians. The eternal question, whether to buy the game Wars of Mages
Imagine if mages belonging to different philosophies and schools of magical craft could come together in the arena in a deadly battle? How would an illusionist fight a druid? Would a sorcerer defeat an animal charmer? Who will win - the priestess or the wizard?
The game Mage Wars will help answer these questions. Each magician uses his own spell book (which can be changed if desired) to defeat the enemy. Summon powerful beings who will fight for you. Unleash devastating spells on the enemy's head. Take advantage of ancient mystical artifacts, magical weapons and armor. All this awaits you in the battles on the Mage Wars arena.
Mage Wars is a tactical board game - a combination of a card game and a miniature game that combines the best elements of both genres. The battle takes place on the playing field of the arena, divided into square areas - "zones". The magicians, in whose role the players act, start the game in opposite corners of the arena.
Each player has a Spellbook in his hands, from which he draws spell cards, putting them into play. This allows you to feel like a real magician, turning over the pages of his mysterious tome in search of the right magic. The selection of spells for your book is based on a point system. Powerful sorcery and magic belonging to other schools of magic are worth more points.
On his turn, the player has the right to cast any spell, which opens up rich possibilities of strategy and tactics. Many spells - creatures, weapons, enchantments - are placed on the board and become game objects. Creatures are able to move around the arena and attack each other or the enemy Mage. Attacks in addition to damage also impose various effects, such as Burn, Corrode, Stun, Paralysis, Injury, and so on. Creatures that take too much damage will be destroyed. In addition, they can be affected by curses or spells.
Each Mage belongs to a specific school of magic, each with its own unique set of spells and strategies.
For example, the beast charmer will try to set his pets on the enemy, strengthening them with the charms of the forces of nature. The wizard is a master of meta-magic: his element is to deflect, steal, redirect, or destroy an opponent's spells and mana. In addition, the sorcerer is a professional in the field of teleportation. The sorcerer is skilled at cursing and destroying enemy creatures with fire spells. The priestess is a skilled healer and an expert in protective charms.
The developers promise that new add-ons will go on sale every few months, adding new Mages, spells and abilities to the base game.
The Russian edition of the game is on sale from January or February 2014.
The second participant appeared in the review contest. Meet the reader by name Victor talking about Mage Wars and mostly good. In his opinion, this is a rather complicated board game, but very interesting.
In a nutshell: Mage Wars - New in 2012; Duel game about the battle of magicians in the arena; Card game without a deck; Tactical game with miniatures but no miniatures; Cool art, complicated rules.
Now more on points.
The box of the game says "Customizable strategy game", which can be translated as "customizable strategy". The BGG website has a separate rating of customizable games, this rating includes such games as Netruner, Warhammer 40,000, Dungeon Command, Magic The Gathering- games in which players prepare a deck and / or army of miniatures in advance according to their preferences in strategy. Some of these games are collectible (Warhammer 40,000, Magic The Gathering), in order to play them, each player must find and buy those cards and miniatures that he wants to see in his army / deck. Other games are less demanding on the player (Netruner, Dungeon Command), in order to fully play them, you just need to buy a box for each player, and then buy additional add-ons. Mage Wars belongs to the second type. In all Mage Wars expansions, there are enough copies of each card for any possible strategy, which is not true for all games of this type. The base box allows you to play with the recommended sets of cards, but you won’t be able to fully customize the spellbooks for both players - you will have to buy a second base.
According to the developers, Mage Wars is designed to be played as if magic really existed. Those. the magic here is quite "realistic" compared to many other games about the battle of magicians. The main realistic feature of Mage Wars is the books. The player does not draw random spell cards from the deck, but chooses the ones they need from their spell book.
Spells come in six basic types similar to card types in MtG: equipment, creatures, enchantments, constructs, attacks, and just spells. Enchantments deserve special attention. Enchantments here, as in MtG, are cards that are attached to something after being played (to other cards in the game or game zones), but they are played face down, that is, they are put into play face down. Then, at any time, the controller of that enchantment can break it and use the effect written on the card. Effects on enchantments can be permanent, which last as long as the enchantment remains in play, and one-time - enchantments with such effects go to the discard immediately after opening. The face-to-face enchantment mechanic introduces an additional psychological component and room for bluffing into the game. With such mechanics, you always have a chance to surprise your opponent. I think this is a really interesting find.
As I mentioned above, spellbooks are pre-formed by players. The total value of all spells in the book must not exceed 120 training points. Different spells have different values depending on the level of the spell and the mage's adherence to the respective school of magic. There are only 10 schools (6 main and 4 elements). The magician's card lists which schools of magic he has been trained in, usually one or two. If the spell does not belong to a school on this list, it will cost twice as much training points for it. In addition, each class of magicians has exclusive spells.
On this moment there are 8 different classes of magicians: Beastmaster, Warlock, Wizard, Priest from the base; Forcemaster and Warlord from the first expansion, which is called “Forcemaster vs. Warlord"; and an add-on that came out just the other day ”Druid vs. Necromacer". In addition, a small addition was released in the summer, including alternative maps mages for the Beastmaster and Priest classes, with unique abilities. I dare to suggest that Arcane Wonders (as the Mage Wars publishing house is called) will continue to release a box every 3 months and alternate 2 new classes and 2 alternative ones.
At the very beginning, I wrote that Mage Wars is tactical game with thumbnails, but no thumbnails. What does it mean? The game uses the playing field (arena), on which the actual battle takes place. Mage cards and summoned creatures move around the field and fight with each other, while giving the impression of a game with miniatures. If you look at the Mage Wars page on BGG, you will see the word ”Miniatures” in the list of categories 🙂
Although the stretch random cards absent in Mage Wars, there are dice that determine the amount of damage inflicted by an attack. Damage on creatures is marked with tokens. In general, there are a lot of large and colorful tokens in the game to indicate different effects and states that creatures can be in. The most beautiful thing is that the text of the rules related to the effects of these tokens is printed on the tokens, which I have not seen anywhere before, and I was very impressed.
In Russia, many describe Mage Wars as a mixture of MtG and Berserk, while abroad it is compared to MtG and Summoner Wars. I can’t say anything about Summoner Wars, since I haven’t played it, but it doesn’t look much like Berserk. Personally, I see a lot of similarities between Mage Wars and Dungeons & Dragons.
First, the action system of Mage Wars is very similar to DnD. The game is divided into rounds in which players take turns activating their creatures (one creature at a time until all are active). When activated, the creature can perform a full action, or a move and a quick action, or two moves. In most games where players activate cards, to indicate activated cards players turn those cards (MtG, Berserk, Dungeon Command...), in Mage Wars there is no dedicated direction, and turning the card simply does not make sense, here instead wooden markers are used, which must be turned over, and turned back at the beginning of the round. These markers look great and are a pleasure to use - another good trick.
Secondly, the game has an effects die (d12) for rolls for various checks. When a creature attacks another creature, it can inflict some effects on it, such as poison or stun, and the probabilistic nature of these effects is tied exactly to the effect die. In addition, the player uses an effect die to make saving throws for creatures that are disoriented after being stunned, stuck in quicksand, etc.
Mage Wars rules are very complex and are 30 pages thick. Remembering all the keywords and exceptions is almost impossible, and you constantly have to refer to the code. In this case, individual cards can have up to eight keywords. On top of that, the number of options in the game just rolls over, because players have access to all the cards from the book at once. Because of this, the first game usually lasts about 3 hours, the players just look at the books and do not know what to choose. But it is the books that make this game different from others. Each round you need to play something that will bring you closer to victory and some kind of response to your opponent's strategy. For this reason, unlike other card games, a typical book in Mage Wars contains cards for several possible strategies at once and effective narrowly focused answers. Such a book allows you to play very flexible and change strategy on the fly, while in card games a successful deck must be completely versatile and consist entirely of synergistic cards. Mage Wars has a high entry threshold, but it all pays off after a couple of games, when you start to understand what to play and how to play.
What can you say about the popularity of the game? Additions are released quite often (every 3 months). In the overall rating on BGG, the game takes 28th place, and in the customizable rating, it ranks 2nd right behind Netrunner. Publishers support the community in every possible way, hold tournaments, give out promo cards for participating in tournaments or for pre-ordering add-ons. There is also an Ambassador program where anyone can become an agent promoting Mage Wars in their city. For activity, ambassadors receive T-shirts, promo cards and other goodies. Just recently, Mage Wars was localized in German and Chinese, and in January-February 2014 localization into Russian is expected, oddly enough. I hope it will take root with us and we will play our own tournaments!
There were many, many games in the week before last, last and this week, and I finally decided to write a review. This desktop is not so new, but since it was published in Russian only six months ago, we need to fill the gap and tell newcomers what it is eaten with and whether they need it. Yes, and many veterans still have not dared to try the game, so I hope the review will be useful.
The toy, one might say, is completely card-based, but due to the accompanying elements, in the form playing field, "spellbooks" and wooden markers and dice, packed in a huge box weighing 2910 g. I deliberately weighed it, because at the moment when I picked up the game at the post office, I was expecting several parcels. And, not knowing what exactly lies in this package, feeling the heaviness, I thought that there were at least two games. Having opened the package, I found only one weighty box and immediately went for the scales, so Mage Wars amazed me with its weight. It's a card game, but it weighs like a brick, though it costs more =).
In the image, by the way, there are two fully packaged spell books. So the laid out cards that you see are not a complete set yet =)
What is it about?
The story is as old as the world: in the local universe, two mages of different classes desperately need to find out which of them is cooler. To do this, armed with staves, magic daggers, mithril chain mail and, most importantly, their knowledge of magic, they enter the arena in order to compete with each other in the art of controlling invisible spheres. In this arena, one of the magicians will remain, as the duel goes to the death. Why do men need all this is incomprehensible, as in the most direct analogue Magic games: The Gathering. Magicians just fight because they're like that - belligerent, you know.
So, the point is to have a good fight. But not with the help of fists and edged weapons (although it will not do without it), but with the help of magic. Each card in Mage Wars is some kind of spell, ranging from healing and a fireball, ending with the summoning of a huge flying demon and the creation of stone barricades right on the battlefield. With MtG, the most direct comparison is made - everything is practically the same here, only, I would say, more detailed in terms of personalities. You feel like a real magician, you know, rather than an abstract body. But more on that below, but now let's look at the contents of the box with the game.
What's in the box?
In a rather big box (not a standard square, but a rectangle 42×32 cm), first of all, the organizer catches the eye, where the components are laid out, among them: three thick packs of spell cards.
Large wooden tokens that are needed to indicate the activity / inactivity of characters and creatures in the arena. On one side they depict a star, on the other they are empty. Plus wooden dice to indicate the mage's current mana and health.
A handful of 16mm custom dice needed to determine damage dealt on attacks and activate various effects.
A hefty folding playing field 81 x 61 cm, where the duel of wizards will actually take place. It is large so that many cards fit into each individual square of the arena, because a whole menagerie can stack on one patch, gnawing and tearing each other with teeth and improvised means, such as “sword”, “axe”, “huge incomprehensible, but definitely heavy crap."
A handful of tokens to indicate wounds and various conditions/effects on cards.
And finally, I left the "chip" Mage Wars- Books of spells. In fact, these are just albums for 2x2 cards, but they are designed for such tomes, which contain magician spell cards. In the course of the game, the albums will also be useful due to the mechanics of the game, which will be discussed below.
How to play?
It is generally difficult to talk about the rules of such games, since they are tied to the properties and effects of the cards, which are the essence of the process itself. Therefore, I will only briefly explain what is happening here and move on to my impressions of the process.
The game is similar to Magic entourage. Have you played MtG? Most likely, yes, the game is too popular for the third decade already, so that not only a desktop player, but also a computer player could pass it by. If the card wars of magicians for some reason passed you by, listen. (Further on, I will sometimes compare these two games, but this does not mean that they are mechanically similar, it’s just that their theme is absolutely identical, but differs in implementation, so this comparison comes to mind. Well, many are familiar with Magic, so they can quickly grasp the essence of Mage Wars).
So, you are a mage, just like your opponent. In your arsenal you have a bunch of different spells represented by cards. Spells are very different: summoning creatures on the battlefield (hamsters, wolves, wild boars, birds, knights, angels, ghosts), throwing fireballs / ice arrows / stone blocks in the face of an opponent, enchanting allies and you personally with all sorts of pluses to armor, promotions attacks that make it possible to fly, set fire to enemies ... A lot, in general, you can do anything.
And all this is happening on the playing field-arena, lined into squares, along which the “figurine”-card of our alter ego moves. He has a certain amount of mana spent on spells, but also replenished every round by the nth number of points, several hit points (a couple of dozen), and the goal of the game is to reduce the enemy’s hit points to zero, leaving his cold corpse on the stones arenas. These indicators are marked with the help of cubes on the tablet that each wizard has.
Each round, both players can cast up to two spells with their mage. For example, call on the field of some wild bear that will fight on your side. You can create a summoning point for new creatures, from which they will periodically jump out to help you, thus giving the mage more time to cast other spells. And in general, there are a lot of options to conjure.
All spell cards are in your spell book, which is a kind of deck. Although you can’t really call a local set of cards an ordinary deck, because, unlike the same Magic, nothing comes into your hand, you just take the spells that are required at the moment and play them when you need to. And I must say that the book is an excellent solution, otherwise you would have to dig through a pack of cards in search of the necessary copy. (By the way, at first I was critical of this album, but practice has shown that it is very convenient).
That is, the randomness in the arrival of the desired card has been completely removed, which allows players to draw a more believable picture of a magical duel. However, randomness Mage Wars manifests itself in another way: when attacking, any character in the game rolls n-dice and the stronger he is, the more attack dice he has. It is the cubes that decide how much damage a particular creature has dealt. The spread, however, is not so great, since the development of the die is like this: 0-0-1-1-2-2. That is, on average, the creature deals 1 damage per diece. Although there are nuances with critical hits that break through armor, which many creatures possess, you can read about this in the rules.
In general, that's all, the process of the game consists in walking around the cells of the field, calling on allies, throwing lightning at each other, squabbling creatures in an attempt to break through to the enemy magician and eat him, etc. There are a lot of nuances in the process: there are flying creatures that can quickly get into the enemy rear and get the carcass of the enemy magician, there are arrows that will destroy manpower the enemy, there are traps placed on the field, there are various effects such as numbness / burning / poisoning, etc., there are various magical armor / swords / rings created by the magician right during the battle.
As I said at the beginning, you can't tell everything. It is enough just to know the course of the round to get an almost complete picture of Mage Wars: we move our magician / creatures around the field, we create up to two spells per turn, playing cards from our spell book, the enemy does the same, whoever remains on his feet in the end, well done.
Why play it?
I will immediately indicate that, in my opinion, the game is very good, I love these, but I perfectly understand who and why might not like it. Therefore, I will outline both the positive and negative features of this desktop so that you can draw your own personal conclusions:
1. Controlling a magician is really interesting, since this process in the game is almost a simulation of a fast-paced duel, when important decisions are made constantly, every turn. Each round, you must choose two spells from your spellbook that match the current situation. Do you need to call on more helpers, or do you need to hang more metal and protection on yourself, or is it time to continuously pour fiery rain on the enemy, or maybe barricade yourself with walls, attacking from afar? A lot of interesting tactics can come up with available spells.
The authors tried to cover everything that can be imagined in such a confrontation. Creatures of various types (foot, flying, fast, slow, shooting), offensive spells, defensive/healing, strengthening, magic traps, "buildings", walls of fire, stone and steam, artifacts worn on the magician, teleporters and more. The options are really a wagon and a small cart. You can experiment with your spell book for a very long time: deciding which ones are needed and which ones are not very good (after all, they can only be scored in a book for a certain number of points) is a separate pleasure.
2. And immediately a minus, or, if you like, an ambiguity arising from the first paragraph. Mage Wars demanding on the players. Here you need to immediately understand what you sit down to play. There are a lot of nuances in the desktop, at first you will have to constantly look into the reference book, since almost every card is an exception in itself, having some kind of property, indicated by one word, and the meaning of which is explained in expanded form in the rule book.
Moreover, all the cards are available at once, and for the first time, looking at the spells in the book, you don’t understand at all why it’s everything and how to handle it. But not everything is so bad - I advise you to just play the cards in random order and see what happens =) We did just that, and after n moves everything fell into place, it became clear why and what is better to play. Literally after two games, you can already, with awareness of the matter, choose spells and throw them into the enemy.
Over time, the properties of the cards will be remembered and become familiar, but at first the flow of information is quite large, you involuntarily get confused and do not fully realize and sensibly evaluate the effectiveness of actions in the carnage that is happening on the field.
The arsenal of a self-respecting sorcerer.
3. Competitiveness of the game. Someone loves and collects new card assemblies in their spell book (deck), trying to implement more and more new strategies and prepare for any possible situation in the arena. And someone can’t stand such pre-game deck building, but wants to take it and immediately start playing the board game pulled out of the box - for such people there are four assemblies prepared by publishers for each of the magicians lying in basic set. Simply stuff the cards listed in the rule book into your deck and play.
For example, I belong to the first category of players, I'm interested in making some kind of insane magician who will create an arsenal of armor / weapons for himself and rush into battle himself, having previously enchanted his attire with auras that are dangerous for enemies. Or - some kind of pyromancer, placing fire traps all over the field and continuously throwing fireballs and jets of flame. However, there are countless people who cannot stand the above described, they just want to sit down and play a board game, without worrying about how many combinations can be made there. Everything must be included in the game process"- this is the motto of such players.
So decide for yourself whether it’s interesting for you to somehow upgrade your deck after n-games, or is it enough to play with basic builds - depending on the choice, this will be either a plus or nothing for you.
4. There are many dice rolls in the game, on which sometimes it depends on the life or death of an important creature, whether the opponent's crept skeleton can finish it off or not. If you do not digest such a random, then, probably, some moments will piss you off in Mage Wars. As I said above, the development of the cube is quite democratic, but still, randomness is randomness.
It pleases me, because this element does not allow the game to turn into chess. Random effects created by some cards (weapons, creatures, etc.) are sometimes very invigorating - he whipped an enemy magician with a fiery whip, and now he is already rushing across the field, trying to bring down the flames that flared up so successfully and losing hit points. =) It creates uniqueness and spectacular situations, for which I love ameritresh so much.
5. Mage Wars not the most quick game, especially at first, when party members are new to the rules and cards. I marked the point, because in our company, they often compared this tabletop with Magic, in which duels experienced players pass almost automatically in 10 minutes. Immediately, despite the result in the form of placing the domestic Berserker with Magic, you can position the game as an ordinary boxed board game, on which you need to lay the appropriate piece of time.
A lot of tactical movements, enough thinking about where to throw / whom to call - a kind of mini-strategy at the local level. But there is practically no downtime, only at the moment of choosing two spells per round, the rest of the time there is action, movement, throwing cubes. By the way, you can play four of us, 2 on 2 (fortunately, there are four magicians in the set), in order to increase the degree of tin and meat in the arena. However, it would be nice to have a second set for this, so that necessary components. Although, if you really want to, you can get by with one.
Impression
There are many impressions from the game. The first thing is, of course, the design. It's just great. Starting with illustrations of a huge pack of cards and ending with all these cubes and large wooden markers (they could have just made cardboard tokens). A hefty field, albeit actually empty, also adds solidity and has a positive effect on the brain, pushing it to the conclusion “I didn’t pay in vain!”
The second impression - how the hell do you figure it out!? Thick rule book Mage Wars chews on all the nuances, however, contains 50 pages! You will have to read everything, but even after that you will have to slow down for a couple of rounds, getting used to the order of the move and slowly realizing what is being done here and how, especially considering some of the nuances of certain game situations.
The third impression is interesting! Now I’ll try to scatter his assistants with these wolves, then finish off with this monster, but for now I’ll fry him with a spark. In the next game, I want to try to act a little differently - the learning process is underway. In the third, I want to try the properties of another magician and his spells. In the fourth - add those cool winged creatures to the deck. In the fifth, create your own deck based on a new idea. The variety of spells is quite large and covers every aspect of theoretical magical muzzle you can imagine. This is exactly what I liked about the game.
In general, such games, as I call it, are endless. Like MtG or my favorite. You can come up with more and more new combinations, get into more and more new situations on the table - and every time it will be interesting. But the only problem similar games lies in the fact that there must be an interested duelist like you, ready to fight and develop in this tabletop. You must both be passionate about the game. Fight, compete, try to beat each other - it is this spirit of rivalry that is interesting in this format of board games. If there are no problems with a partner who is ready to learn 50 pages of rules, then the game is absolutely yours.
Outcome
The game has a relatively high barrier to entry. The game is beautiful. Quite variable due to the large number of cards + combinations, as it should be in a good card game. Downtime is minimal. If you like Berserk, Magik and Spectromancer - take it. I would also say something like: “Simply awesome-excellent card tabletop!” But that's not objective, is it?
Board game
Number of players
2
Party time
60 to 120 minutes
Game difficulty
Complex
- epic battle of two magicians. You have a chance to become one of them.
Two powerful magicians appear in the arena, a huge crowd of observers instantly calms down. The announcement of opponents began, at this moment they evaluate each other and it becomes scary from their piercing glances. The fight will end only if one of the mages falls on the old arena slabs defeated. Very soon, a loud signal will sound, meaning that the battle has begun. In their hands, the magicians hold books with unique spells tightly, they concentrate with their eyes closed and thinking in their heads how the battle will go and which spell to apply first. What if you are one of the mages? Imagine yourself in this place! Are you wise and strong enough to get ahead of your opponent before he gets to you?
About the Mage Wars board game
"Wars of Mages" - an exciting board game card game about duels of magicians, magic and spells. Two students from different magical schools collide in the arena, this competition will help determine whose witchcraft power is more powerful. There are as many as four schools of magic: Animal Masters control Nature and can summon any animal, and then endow it with strong spells with the help of magic; Priestesses use divine Light magic that can heal and protect; Sorcerers use the ancient magic of Darkness, their power is in curses and summoning terrible demons; Wizards have insidious magic and can redirect or cancel their opponent's spell, in addition to taking away some of the magic power.
A tough battle is ahead, but the winner is only the survivor in this struggle. Now imagine yourself as a magician - decide on a battle strategy, think over a system of spells that will protect you and outwit the enemy, allowing him to destroy. Take up your ancient spell book and your favorite powerful wand. The duel will begin soon, get ready to enter the magical arena!
Board Game Mage Wars: Rules
The Mage Wars game has a system of rounds that last until one of the fighting mages is destroyed, taking a lot of damage. The first thing players do is go through all the phases of the Preparation Phase, which include allocating an initiative token, acquiring the required mana pool and activating spells, maintaining or dispelling old spells, and choosing a new spell from the spellbook. The next is the Action Stage, in which players move, attack, or take other actions in turn. The game is played until the winner is revealed.
Who has won?
Destroy another magician and protect yourself - that's your goal! The one who is the last to stand on his feet wins.
Action board game takes place in the world of magic, where several powerful magicians have come together for the right to possess the title of the strongest. The first control the forces of nature, the second command the demons from the underworld, the third are subject to all the elements, the fourth entered into an alliance with the holy priests and began to control the forces of light! Whose truth will end up on the podium is up to you!
The board game is essentially a two player game, although it has a two-on-two mode for four players, but there are only two albums and two status cards in the box, but the number game cards it completely allows you to make up your own deck for each character, and besides, it still remains.
Despite everything, Mage Warriors is a very strong dueling board game with interesting mechanics and unusual game elements. The gameplay in it is quite exciting and no less interesting to build and upgrade your own deck. The game is also very tournament-oriented and therefore will surely find its niche as a semi-sports tabletop discipline. Accumulate mana, magical war is on the doorstep!
Localization
A few words about localization. The star has done a great job here, translating over 50 pages of the rule book, plus the text on a huge number of cards - it's really not easy. In general, the translation is decent, but not without a couple of annoying errors. They have almost no effect on the gameplay, but they sometimes confuse them, especially at the time of compiling base decks. The fact that the Thunderhawk is actually the Thunderfalcon can be guessed. But the wizard is offered to cast a lightning bolt spell, and in the box there is only a lightning bolt and a thunder bolt. The correct one would be Lightning.
The age-old question, should I buy the Mage Wars game?
In fact, such interesting and quality games The magic series hasn't been released in a long time. If you are a fan of duel games, or dream of pairing with your friends, then this game is for you. made soundly and with high quality, the characters are perfectly drawn, so we advise you to buy it, it will definitely find a place in your desktop collection!
Forget everything you've been told before about board games having big boxes. Here in the War of Mages it is really big and just right next to the size of the box lies the playing field, which, in addition to everything else, also unfolds, becoming twice as large! The training games of the rules suggest playing on half of the field, but it is folded in the other direction, that is, it will still have to be laid out on the table in its entirety and the boundaries should be marked somehow. Now, according to the rules of the game, both players choose their magician. All of them in this game are unique, with their own abilities and style of play.
- The owner of the animals floods the opponent with crowds of small and remote animals;
- The priestess specializes in healing and enhancing her creatures;
- The sorcerer, on the contrary, casts curses and commands demons;
- And the wizard skillfully manipulates not only his own, but also other people's spells.
The key to success for any magician is a properly assembled spell book. The player chooses and assembles his own set of spells, subject to the cost cap. Schools known to the magician will do without fines, but for unknown or even opposing schools, you will have to pay extra. Mage Warriors do not limit the freedom of players in this regard. It is possible to collect at least a demonic priestess who throws fireballs and summons infernal creatures, but this will cost a lot and often will not be very beneficial to combine with abilities.
All selected cards are not shuffled into the deck, but are placed in special albums so that the player can have access to all his spells during the game. Each player, based on the rules of the game, receives a status card, on which he marks with cubes the levels of mana inflow and reserves, as well as general health and current damage. On it in the corner is short description round, which we will now consider.
Game phases
During the initiative phase, the corresponding token is passed, which determines the turn order. During the refresh phase, all creatures and abilities are put on alert by flipping the corresponding tokens. During the mana influx phase, an appropriate amount of mana is added to the pool. During the upkeep phase, the upkeep cost of some spells is paid, and some properties are triggered, such as regeneration or burning. Next comes the planning phase. Each mage chooses up to two spells from the spell book that he plans to cast and places them face down in front of him. However, it is not necessary to play them, which leaves little room for bluffing.
In a board game the player controls, spawn points can appear that allow you to cast additional spells for your own mana. In the deployment phase, such spells are just played. Finally, the game enters the action phase, which consists of three phases. To begin, players can cast one quick spell each in initiative order. To do this, the corresponding token is turned over, the player pays the cost of the spell and plays it. But not every card can be played this way. Globally, spells are divided into two types, quick and full. In addition to this, spells are also divided by type:
- Equipment is the summoned equipment of the mage.
- Creatures are the main combat units on the field.
- Sorcery - one-time magical effects.
Attacks are a magical way of dealing damage. Enchantments are of particular interest, because they are played on their target in a closed way and work when certain conditions are met. Among them there are curses, and amplifications, and magic traps, and ways to dispel spells. It is the spells that make the game more interesting and unpredictable.
Starting the Action Phase in the Mage War
So, at the beginning of the action phase, players can cast one quick spell at a time, or save this token for later. Then, in order of priority, any one of the player's creatures on the field, including the magician himself, can be activated. That creature chooses to either take a full action and then pass its turn to the next player, or move first and then take a swift action. As a quick action, you can make a quick attack if the creature has one, cast a quick spell if the creature can, take another step, or go on the defensive. As a full action, the creature can make a full attack or cast a full spell if it can do so.
Let's consider all these actions in more detail. Movement in a board game allows a creature to move exactly one cell vertically or horizontally. A list of available attacks is listed on each creature card. The target can be anything that has a life parameter. However, if a defending enemy creature is in the zone in which the attack is being made, the player must attack it. The defense token is then removed. Melee attacks have a sword symbol, and long-range arrows, on which the minimum and maximum allowable range are written. An elemental symbol is sometimes indicated next if the attack deals elemental damage. This is important for various resistances and vulnerabilities. Why does the number indicate the number of red dice used in the attack and the value of the property die, if it is used. This die is used to check various additional effects, such as stun, poison, and others. Immediately after declaring an attack, the defending creature can dodge if it has the dodge property. A yellow die is thrown, and if the number on it is equal to or more number on the dodge symbol, the attack did not take place at all. Otherwise, the attack continues. The attacker rolls the dice assigned to him and looks at the rolled values. All empty faces can be immediately postponed, they will not cause damage. Normal damage is added together and compared to the target's armor. If there is more armor, then the defender will not receive damage, and if less, he will receive the difference. All critical damage according to the rules of the board game completely bypasses the target's armor. Then, if the defender had a barrier of thorns, the melee attacker can take damage himself. If the defender can, he counterattacks. Finally the damage is calculated. If the damage is equal to or greater than the target's health, they leave the game. Damage received by magicians is marked with a special red die, and if it reaches the black - the limit of life, the magician dies and loses the game.
To be honest, the combat system in the War of Mages left us a little bewildered. It would seem that the game sets you up in a strategic way, no deck, all spells are available immediately, the playing field with the possibility of tactical movement and you have dice combat. That is, no matter how cool your creature is, no matter how reinforcing enchantments hang on it, there is a chance that you will get empty sides on all the dice or they will simply dodge your attack. Or the reverse situation, some weak creature will get critical deuces on all dice and your reinforced armor will give absolutely nothing. Nevertheless, the combat in the game is extremely dynamic and for sure many will like it.
Once all creatures have completed their actions, players are given one last opportunity to cast a quick spell if they haven't done so before. Then a new round of the game begins and everything repeats again.
