I realise that Troll and Country is DoW baby. But I just got my copy, and I have to say I'd be a little sad to see that format go.

A couple of reasons why:

• It's a neat way to package a new creature.
• The scenarios are easy to set up and pack up (well, easier).

And most importantly:

• It's a novel and cheap way of producing very stylistic or different scenarios including a potential host of interesting possibilities.
• It provides a way to supply official scenarios that mingle subsets of the expansions together.

What do people think? I know the intial reaction was swift and hot as fire, but has there been any mellowing or attitude change toward Troll and Country? Could this avenue of expansion be an interesting 'string' to the Battlelore 'bow'?

Cheers,

Giles.

I'll be gentle... not.

Troll & Country is the crappiest crap excuse of an expansion that I've ever seen coming from DoW and I strongly believe that it's been a major factor to the DoW-to-FFG BattleLore agreement.

I was so underwhelmed when they announced it after one whole year of waiting something new about BL that I couldn't believe it. I tried to find some more information about it hoping that somehow it had more content than a simple {and ugly} miniature packaged with a map {that will be useless after 2-3 plays}.

No, no I was really happy that they dropped this idea. I got into BattleLore because they said that it wasn't going to be a collectible miniatures game. Even the other small expansions were bad content-wise for my taste. As a boardgamer I'm used to buying a game and 1-2 expansions that add a lot more content. Buying small packs of Goblins and/or Dwarves felt like a rip-off. Couldn't they sell the two Goblin expansions in one bigger box? Yes, they could but they wanted to make more money so they splitted it in half.

They defended themselves by saying that it was better so that people could buy an expansion that they were interested in and not buy an expansion that they didn't like. I'm fairly sure that all BL fans just bought everything. I haven't seen anyone say that he only bought Goblin Marauders and didn't buy Goblin Skirmishers for example. Their justification for the small expansion was moot.

Then they came up with Troll & Country after a YEAR of silence. Troll & Country was even worse content-wise. What were they thinking I'll never know but they did the exact opposite of what BL fans wanted. More content & NEW content.

No, no, no. Troll & Country is a BL abomination. It's the only BL expansion that I don't own. If I ever find it for 5 euro, I'll buy it just to satisfy my completionist self. I surely hope that FFG will not even consider doing something like this ever again.

I can still feel the bitterness in my mouth from Troll & Country's announcement by Days of Wonder. A total and complete dissapointment.

OK, vented and cool now....

I agree with you to some extent. I think Troll and Country was disappointing in the context of its release - that is, as you say, after a year of nothing. With a litany of small expansions before it and the promise of Heroes waiting, waiting, waiting...

But as a concept on it's own merits I think there is some room for expansions like this. In the context of the game being well supported, a parallel series of battlemaps that tie in various expansions, mixes things up and so forth could be a fun addition to the game. It strikes me as a very flexible format in some ways. But that's ignoring the context of its release!

Cheers,

Giles.

I can somewhat understand the bitterness and disappointment when T&C came out because of the perpetual silence from DOW and the expectation that the next expansion was going to be heroes or creatures or something significant. This is unfortunate, because the T&C format does offer something unique to BattleLore the potential to make maps with more and/or different terrain than is offered in the base game and expansions. They could have put a mountain range on the map with foothills, a ton of forest squares with pathways, a castle or walls for a siege battle, a coast for naval attacks, a battle through the passages of a castle or streets of a city/town, etc...

The potential is endless and could have provided unique terrain that could be used for several battles without paying for new boards. After all, witness the success of the battlemaps for Memoir'44. They have all been well received and are anxiously awaited by Memoir'44 fans because they offer landscapes, terrains, and battles that could not be played with the base game tiles.

I must say, however, that I am discouraged by the silence from FFG as well. There was talk of an FAQ, terrain editor, web release of scenarios, etc... None of which has come to pass after several years. Seems like this is a road we've traveled before...

Geoff

I don't expect to see anything like Memoir '44's battle map releases for BattleLore by FFG, but I don't expect to see much of anything for BL from FFG, so I am happy to be pleasantly surprised

Like Geoff pointed out, I also think the battle maps are a good idea, but the timing was awful. Say what one will about the sculpt, but the troll is a fun creature to play with and against as far as the game mechanics go. I would love to see a T&C'ish release every 3-6 months in the $10-15 range. Good way to keep the game fresh and relevant.

Yes, I wonder how much support this game will recieve. Only time will tell I suppose, but to be honest, my excitement over FFG getting the game has been diminished by the expansions they have offered for it - specifically Creatures and Dragons. Don't get me wrong - I like what they add, I just think they were poorly executed. I think the updated Creatures rules should have been in the Creatures rulesbook, along with some common FAQ. However, if FFG plan on releasing a new Base set - and my fingers are crossed - then I'll happily eat my own words and applaud FFG's vision.

I think Battlelore will see more support from FFG, I hope so in any case!!

I'd also love to see FFG create a fantasy setting for the game.

We shall see I suppose!

Back to the original post:

I agree - one every quarter to half year would be neat, especially at a cheap price point.

Cheers,

Giles.

I was about to point out the M44 overlord map expansions as well. The format works. The last one they issued came with a new combat deck. Imagine if they issued a map expansion for BL that came with a new Loremaster deck or new Command cards. If the price is reasonable, I bet the crowd would buy into it. So much potential for cool add-ons...

I personnaly decided to get a copy of Troll and Country even though it was way overpriced. Anything over 15$ is ridiculously too high a price to pay for so little.