I've only played a few scenarios with the Battle Savvy rules, and I'm as yet undecided as to what I think. On one hand the greatly shorten the game length and add a real danger to attacking. On the other hand it seems that the formations that used to be vital before are not so important now (at this shallow glance at least).

All that aside, I am wondering whether people here have played many of the older (pre-creatures/heroes) expansions with the Battle Savvy rules, and how they play out? Do they have a negative impact on scenarios such as the Troll and Country set? Can heroes be used when playing these older scenarios?

Hopefully we'll see more from FFG on the future of Battlelore soon, until then: "the games afoot: follow your spirit, and upon this charge cry 'God for Harry, England, and saint George'" (I'm a Pennant player obviously).

Cheers,

Giles.

Yes, I'd say that Heroes can definitely be played with older scenarios, but keep in mind that Heroes were designed with Battle Savvy rules in mind. I think perhaps Heroes might be a bit overpowered if played without Battle Savvy. But that's just a theory at this point. Basically just add your hero to any hero-friendly hex before you start playing, and away you go.

That being said, we've had discussion as to the merits of formations and morale when using Battle Savvy rules. What I have seen, and I don't have any mathematical reasoning really to go along with this, is that formation is still very important and that just sending your troops willy-nilly across the battlefield is still a good way to get them killed. There are definitely changes that need to be made to some strategies, but don't underestimate the value of good morale amongst your troops.

So, in short, you can play the older scenarios with Battle Savvy, and are in fact expected to by Mr. Borg. It is the "official" way to play now, even retroactively. Though you can certainly still use the old system as a house rule if both players enjoy it more.

One more thing: I'd recommend adding a victory banner to all the older scenarios' victory requirements (I've done this in most of the games I've played since Heroes came out). With Battle Savvy, 5 banners just goes by way too quickly. But that is just my recommendation; take it or leave it.