Hi,

I've got Runebound, some big box expansions etc. and love it. Recently bought Battles of Westeros and both it's expansions and love that too.

I'm eyeing up Runwars but have heard mixed reviews. Some say its a great war game others say it's not a war game (too random etc.). Even so, I'm still thinking of getting it but would like a little info e.g. what are the basic mechanics, play length, down time and can you use cards/figures from standard runebound (heard rumours you could) etc?

Thanks.

monk said:

I'll start with some of the latter questions:

- Play Length. Some people have reported very long games, up to 7 hours! But I have never had that long of a game. My longest game was 4 hours, and that was playing "epic" style with 4 players, 2 of whom were new. Most of my games take about 2 hours.

- Down Time. Very little - most orders can be resolved quite quickly, and usually the most downtime is when a battle is being resolved. But even the longest battle only takes a few minutes. This game tends to be engaging for all players pretty much all the time to some degree.

- Cards/Figures from Runebound. No cards from Runebound are used here (though some of the Rewards may have familiar names). The 12 Heroes that come with Runewars are from the Runebound/Descent games, though they have stats tailored to Runewars. I've created some unofficial custom Hero cards, though, for every Hero in the Runebound/Descent games (except Mists of Zenaga), so if you are the kind of person who doesn't mind fan-created material, that can allow you to bring them in. But there really aren't any other components that are shared between the games.

As for the game itself, it depends on what you are looking for. I personally think that those who say the game is "too random" are those who haven't really fully grasped the intricacies of it. Some games are heavily combat-oriented, others only have a few skirmishes. It just depends on the map layout and the players. However, I find that to be an asset of the game - it allows for many types of play styles and strategies.

Where most people complain about the "randomness" is that you can't plan super-long-term strategies in the game, because the season cards, other players' orders, etc, can make a big difference. Instead, what this game is about is making lots of tactical decisions, preparing for multiple scenarios and then acting based on what comes up. Managing resources and knowing WHEN to fight is key in this game.

I don't know if I'd call it a "wargame", but I would say it falls under the genre of empire expansion and conflict. There may not be as much diplomacy and politics as in games like Twilight Imperium, but they are still there. Also, the game scales really well between 2 and 4 players.

For the mechanics, here's the short, short version. (I'd recommend reading the rulebook to get a feel for them in more detail). The players are trying to get a certain number of Dragon Rune tokens - 6 in a regular game, 7 in an "epic" game. These Dragon runes are placed in various areas on the map during the game (often close to player's home realms, but not always). Thus, having some sort of expansion is necessary.

The game is played in a series of "years", each of which consists of 4 "seasons". For each season, a card is drawn that has some effect, and then each player secretly chooses one of 8 orders, which have effects from allowing you to move troops, harvest resources, recruit, etc. Each order has an initiative number, with lower numbers going first. Also, if the order you play in a season is the highest number you've played that year, you get to resolve a bonus part of the order. This creates some strategic planning, as optimally you will want to play orders from low to high in a year, but there are times when you need the high orders early in the year, and thus have to decide if it's worth sacrificing some of the supremacy bonuses from the orders.

Each Summer, the heroes controlled by each player go questing. Generally, they are trying to find Shards of Timmoran, which can give the player another Dragon Rune, but there are also other rewards that can help during the game to fight other heroes, etc. Also, many heroes have abilities that can affect the armies, and there are several rewards and tactics cards that do other things related to heroes. While at first, the hero/army games may seem like they aren't connected, I've found with more experience, a big part of winning is related to learning how to manage the heroes well, knowing when to focus on them, and when to focus on armies. Each game is different.

I hope this helps. Personally, I would highly recommend the game. I know it's not a game for everyone, but all those who I've played it with have seemed to enjoy it, and I think it's safe to say it gets more good ratings than bad. (On BoardGameGeek, it's ranked #35 out of thousands of games.)

sigmazero13 said:

I agree with everything Sigma said, but particularly the part quoted above. I think that the people who complain about the game being too random are those who came into it expecting a more traditional wargame, where combat performance determines the victor first and foremost. Runewars is a highly tactical game, but its focus is more on the reason for fighting than the fighting itself. That is to say, control of resources, and specifically runes.

In a lot of popular fiction, people go to war because there's some big, evil threat that will destroy the world unless they stop it. One side is provoking a conflict for the sheer love of destruction, and the other side is responding with force because no other option is viable. Who fights best determines the winner. In the real world, people more often go to war over resources. Food, land, gold, oil. One side needs something (or has convinced themselves they need it) and the other side has it. Diplomatic efforts may have faltered, but rarely are they completely ignored. Fighting is the result of the one side being unwilling (for whatever reason) to give over the thing the other side wants.

(I'm aware this a gross oversimplification of real world politics and war, and I'm not trying to kick off some huge debate about any recent wars or their motivations. I'm just saying it's not always black and white, and that actual combat is a consequence rather than a goal.)

That's how it goes in Runewars. Everybody has decided they need these runes (mostly because there's a couple of big evil guys who have decided they want the runes, and the good guys know that they can't let the evil guys take them or its kaput for the peaceful world they love. - hey, it is still fantasy =P) But the bottom line is control of the runes. You fight to get them, you fight to keep them. You don't fight just to kill the other guy. If you approach the game with a proper understanding of the victory conditions, it's easy to see the strategy. If you approach it with assumptions about what a wargame "should be" then you'll get side-swiped every other turn.

Also, I second the idea of checking out Sigma's homebrew heroes over on BGG. As long as you don't mind a little arts and crafts, it's a great way to add some more variety to the game, assuming you have some extra heroes lying around from other Terrinoth games, of course.

Brilliant, thanks. Sounds great, just what i'm looking for, and I can't wait to get it. Thanks again for the info.