Did you ever compare the boards? I find that the locations on the original board were sometimes difficult to find when placing new minions. Is the new one better?
Based on the video, the location names are clearly bigger than on the original board. That is definitely a useful improvement, as it often took some time to find the right location when placing minions, doing quests and so on. It was really easy to overlook the location due to the small print.
can this game be enjoyed WITHOUT any expansions. Everyone/anyone talking about this game talks about the expansions, as if you need em to enjoy this, which implies the game isn't so great without the expansions. THe game looks interesting but I'm not biting if you need expansions to make this game "great". It also looks too much like World of Warcraft; LitchKing (which I like, which has no expansions).
It depends on what you like in a game. I think the 8 characters in the base game and the 4 fixed generals are decent, the small quest cards are okay and give decent variety (though a bit of a pain to shuffle), and I actually prefer the 4 colors of a single minion sculpt that are basic hooded cultists/on-foot ring wraiths that go out onto the board. It is a decent full game with a lot of randomness and dice chucking. So what do expansions add? Dragon Expansion is a full box cost because it needs to replicate many components in the game. It is a mix of more of the same, updated/alternate rules, and new rules. You get 3 new heroes, 3 dragon generals to swap out non-dragon generals (with all the needed corresponding new placards, Agent placards to use a dragon of a color when using a non-dragon general as an extra hassle, hero deck cards, and darkness spread cards). New dragons can breath fire (so fire tokens/rules are added) and can have unique alternate minions (no models or components, just change the rules for how minions behave). Overall a lot of great stuff that adds variety if you like the game and want to keep playing it, but it is costly. The Barbarian is a placard and mini to add a new hero, so it is relatively cheap to buy. The Errant Paladin is an updated placard with an added ability, so it is also cheap. Same goes for the Noble Dwarf. Hero Expansion 1, 2, and 3 are boxed sets 4 or 5 hero cards and minis at a moderate price, and "global effects" (good and bad) cards were originally put in as a random lot - they get added to the darkness spreads deck to make the game easier or harder. I think they did away with that and made them fixed. However... Global Effects Cards - all the non-dragon expansion cards in a deck. Not too expensive, not really needed. Relics is a cheap 5 card expansion to give the generals items to make them more deadly. Quest deck is a little more expensive as it is a lot of quest cards done in full poker size - a double deck to upgrade 1e. Sadly, this means you are rebuying the dragon expansion cards if you need it (don't know if new DotR come with full sized quest cards or not). The four minions expansions are bagged not boxed, and each one upgrades a minion set to custom miniatures. Unfortunately, they introduce elite minis and thus you get 20 basic and 5 elite - so if you don't use elites, you're 5 minis short of the base type. You also get three small placards of base minion, alternate minion, and elite minion. Handy, but far from needed. Legends is a small deck and is cheap to get, and it basically gives a hero an extra special power (sort of like playing with the house rule of starting off with one completed quest to make the game a little easier). High council is also a small deck that is cheap and adds cards that are triggered when a general moves, and thus helps make the game easier. Generals Expansion adds new non-dragon replacement generals for non-dragon generals that are tougher. It comes in a bag and is medium priced, and is to add variety and make the game harder. Winds of War is another mini expansion of a small card deck and is cheaper to get, and is included in the 2nd edition of dragons expansion (so isn't needed if you get that) - after 3 special cards and/or all quiet darkness spreads cards are played, a bad winds of war event triggers. Yup, making a game dependent on random dice rolls for everything even harder. Hero expansions 4 and 5 come in a bag and add more heroes to play. Not cheap, but not that expensive. Sterling, the good dragon who may or may not show up, was labeled hero expansion 6 for me but it isn't a hero to play - its an ally on the board you can go and try to influence. I do not have the 2022 release stuff, but I need to get it - that's the new board which is way easier to read (location names and clearer paths), the heroes calling expansion to make custom heroes (which may be the better way to go than getting hero expansions at this point), and the companions and catacombs that I only know what is shown in the video. Does any of that expansion stuff sound must-have to make the game interesting to you? For me, the game is already very hard and all the adding difficulty expansions aren't really needed, but I like the variety of heroes and the things that make it easier. The game doesn't really scale well - at 1 or 2 players you will not be able to group attack a general and draw on a larger pool of cards like a group of 4 can - but it is mostly decent. I think it is a game you need to roleplay while playing, as just looking at it mechanically it is "move somewhere, roll dice and hope you roll well" (sort of like Risk or Arkham Horror 2E in that aspect) - but if you make a story while playing then it can be fun. For example, my last game with my wife my Adventurer died facing off against the Undead General, and the Sorceress I replaced her I decided was her sibling who sought revenge against him. My wife's centaur didn't die... I goofed and didn't press my (already bad luck) and we died, even though I knew that was going to happen. We rewinded and I took the push your luck path and you know what happened? I defeated the general that ended the game by actually rolling good, giving my wife's Centaur character time to push their luck against the last general and winning the game. I guess fortune favors the bold (except usually not me). That said, is this my preferred game? No. I enjoy Oltree more (such a gorgeous game) with its better luck mitigation or Gloomhaven (a dungeon crawler with great luck mitigation). For DiotR styled games, I'd probably look to the "States of Siege" wargames like Zulus on the Ramparts or Dawn of the Zeds. However, I have really bad luck drawing cards or dice (that sorcerress went to inns to dig for red general cards, and I tossed so many blue cards away and almost all my red cards came from end-of-turn draws - wasted 3 full turns of actions to lose 6 blue cards and gain 1 red and 2 purple cards), other people don't (like my wife). What type of gamer are you? Do you like to get into the story of a game and make it more, or do you just play the rules to win? If the former, this is a good game - if the latter, look to other games. Remember, this game was release about 13 years ago, so it was released just before the Kickstarter effect on boardgames (which began in about 2013). It is a good design if you like randomness, a fantasy Arkham Horror 2E styled game, but in a world of hundreds of great games a "good game" might not cut it anymore.
Did you ever compare the boards? I find that the locations on the original board were sometimes difficult to find when placing new minions. Is the new one better?
Based on the video, the location names are clearly bigger than on the original board. That is definitely a useful improvement, as it often took some time to find the right location when placing minions, doing quests and so on. It was really easy to overlook the location due to the small print.
Very cool! Im looking to order and do a video myself. I subbed!
Cool man thx for the unboxing
Hey, what happened to your channel? Seems like you had a good thing going here?
Nice unboxing
can this game be enjoyed WITHOUT any expansions. Everyone/anyone talking about this game talks about the expansions, as if you need em to enjoy this, which implies the game isn't so great without the expansions. THe game looks interesting but I'm not biting if you need expansions to make this game "great". It also looks too much like World of Warcraft; LitchKing (which I like, which has no expansions).
It depends on what you like in a game. I think the 8 characters in the base game and the 4 fixed generals are decent, the small quest cards are okay and give decent variety (though a bit of a pain to shuffle), and I actually prefer the 4 colors of a single minion sculpt that are basic hooded cultists/on-foot ring wraiths that go out onto the board. It is a decent full game with a lot of randomness and dice chucking.
So what do expansions add?
Dragon Expansion is a full box cost because it needs to replicate many components in the game. It is a mix of more of the same, updated/alternate rules, and new rules. You get 3 new heroes, 3 dragon generals to swap out non-dragon generals (with all the needed corresponding new placards, Agent placards to use a dragon of a color when using a non-dragon general as an extra hassle, hero deck cards, and darkness spread cards). New dragons can breath fire (so fire tokens/rules are added) and can have unique alternate minions (no models or components, just change the rules for how minions behave). Overall a lot of great stuff that adds variety if you like the game and want to keep playing it, but it is costly.
The Barbarian is a placard and mini to add a new hero, so it is relatively cheap to buy.
The Errant Paladin is an updated placard with an added ability, so it is also cheap. Same goes for the Noble Dwarf.
Hero Expansion 1, 2, and 3 are boxed sets 4 or 5 hero cards and minis at a moderate price, and "global effects" (good and bad) cards were originally put in as a random lot - they get added to the darkness spreads deck to make the game easier or harder. I think they did away with that and made them fixed. However...
Global Effects Cards - all the non-dragon expansion cards in a deck. Not too expensive, not really needed.
Relics is a cheap 5 card expansion to give the generals items to make them more deadly.
Quest deck is a little more expensive as it is a lot of quest cards done in full poker size - a double deck to upgrade 1e. Sadly, this means you are rebuying the dragon expansion cards if you need it (don't know if new DotR come with full sized quest cards or not).
The four minions expansions are bagged not boxed, and each one upgrades a minion set to custom miniatures. Unfortunately, they introduce elite minis and thus you get 20 basic and 5 elite - so if you don't use elites, you're 5 minis short of the base type. You also get three small placards of base minion, alternate minion, and elite minion. Handy, but far from needed.
Legends is a small deck and is cheap to get, and it basically gives a hero an extra special power (sort of like playing with the house rule of starting off with one completed quest to make the game a little easier).
High council is also a small deck that is cheap and adds cards that are triggered when a general moves, and thus helps make the game easier.
Generals Expansion adds new non-dragon replacement generals for non-dragon generals that are tougher. It comes in a bag and is medium priced, and is to add variety and make the game harder.
Winds of War is another mini expansion of a small card deck and is cheaper to get, and is included in the 2nd edition of dragons expansion (so isn't needed if you get that) - after 3 special cards and/or all quiet darkness spreads cards are played, a bad winds of war event triggers. Yup, making a game dependent on random dice rolls for everything even harder.
Hero expansions 4 and 5 come in a bag and add more heroes to play. Not cheap, but not that expensive.
Sterling, the good dragon who may or may not show up, was labeled hero expansion 6 for me but it isn't a hero to play - its an ally on the board you can go and try to influence.
I do not have the 2022 release stuff, but I need to get it - that's the new board which is way easier to read (location names and clearer paths), the heroes calling expansion to make custom heroes (which may be the better way to go than getting hero expansions at this point), and the companions and catacombs that I only know what is shown in the video.
Does any of that expansion stuff sound must-have to make the game interesting to you? For me, the game is already very hard and all the adding difficulty expansions aren't really needed, but I like the variety of heroes and the things that make it easier. The game doesn't really scale well - at 1 or 2 players you will not be able to group attack a general and draw on a larger pool of cards like a group of 4 can - but it is mostly decent.
I think it is a game you need to roleplay while playing, as just looking at it mechanically it is "move somewhere, roll dice and hope you roll well" (sort of like Risk or Arkham Horror 2E in that aspect) - but if you make a story while playing then it can be fun. For example, my last game with my wife my Adventurer died facing off against the Undead General, and the Sorceress I replaced her I decided was her sibling who sought revenge against him. My wife's centaur didn't die... I goofed and didn't press my (already bad luck) and we died, even though I knew that was going to happen. We rewinded and I took the push your luck path and you know what happened? I defeated the general that ended the game by actually rolling good, giving my wife's Centaur character time to push their luck against the last general and winning the game. I guess fortune favors the bold (except usually not me).
That said, is this my preferred game? No. I enjoy Oltree more (such a gorgeous game) with its better luck mitigation or Gloomhaven (a dungeon crawler with great luck mitigation). For DiotR styled games, I'd probably look to the "States of Siege" wargames like Zulus on the Ramparts or Dawn of the Zeds. However, I have really bad luck drawing cards or dice (that sorcerress went to inns to dig for red general cards, and I tossed so many blue cards away and almost all my red cards came from end-of-turn draws - wasted 3 full turns of actions to lose 6 blue cards and gain 1 red and 2 purple cards), other people don't (like my wife).
What type of gamer are you? Do you like to get into the story of a game and make it more, or do you just play the rules to win? If the former, this is a good game - if the latter, look to other games. Remember, this game was release about 13 years ago, so it was released just before the Kickstarter effect on boardgames (which began in about 2013). It is a good design if you like randomness, a fantasy Arkham Horror 2E styled game, but in a world of hundreds of great games a "good game" might not cut it anymore.
This is an amazing answer@@dillenbeck53531