Start the week @ RD/KA!

Battlelore blues?

I went down last December celebrating a fine session of the spectacular new Battlelore. And I'd celebrated BL again over more games with Badger on our Xmas-day games bash (the ideal way to geek out the horror!).

I mean, I was really liking the way the changes in the medieval command deck, and in the battle rules- no leaders or evading, limited battle back and so on- were working to change the relative strengths of the different unit types. The slower, more attritional pace of the battle contrasts neatly with the shock of impact and clearing of-the-dust of C&C:A. Tactically the rules favour the wedge at the expense of the line, and make cavalry the supreme shock troops. All the little rules add up nicely (even if at the expense of a rash of impromptu FAQ's). And the Lore game offers exactly what it says on the tin: mighty magics and heroic powers galore. All that and monsters too! I should've been in pig-heaven.

So I was a bit shocked to feel my heart sink at Uncle Martin's choice of BL to get our session off to a start, during his recent visit. At least it wasn't Roborally I figured: I couldn't stomach the prospect of another mammoth tussle like the last time. I had an assured ace up my sleeve though.

These Battlelore blues were short-lived enough in the end: I downloaded the free preview Epic BL rules on sight, and Badger and I had a go with the set he'd blagged for his birthday. What a stuffing I took. But what fun it was!

Badger and I soon agreed that Epic is the way to play Battlelore: the much larger armies- about as many units as in a large Ancients battle, but on a board twice the size; the vaster piles of lore- you use 2 sets of lore counters, so that you can accumulate twice as much for truly monsterous lore spending combos; and the Epic rack- a chance to play 2 Section cards in a single turn, so that you can really move some of those vast forces!

Naturally enough DoW have me hooked on the BL package for the forseeable future!