...and from what I can see, it seems like it would be one of the best games ever, and something I can get the more innocent members of my gaming group into (as in, the ones who hate the backstabbing to be found in BSG or AGoT). So, I have a couple questions:

Is my initial feel wrong? It seems like people are all in it for themselves from the get-go, though as is true of most other FFG games alliances can probably be made and broken on a whim. But I know at least one of my friends hates the "surprise" dickery that the Cylons offer in BSG. Would he hate this too?

And, how are the rules for it? It didn't seem too complicated from the promo video, but I know there is probably more to it. Is this something people can learn relatively quickly? Or is it going to be a struggle through pages and pages of exceptions?

Thanks for the answers RW folks .

umboito said:

There's not much in the way of "surprises" in Runewars. (There are a couple cards that can screw a player unexpectedly, but it's not a recurring theme.) Everyone knows whose side they're on from the get go - namely their own.

The only thing that tends to catch some people by surprise is how little a role army combat can play sometimes. The goal of the game is to collect Runes. Collecting Runes requires you to take and hold territory, but not necessarily to invade enemy territory. (I mean, taking your opponent's Runes is one way to do it, but not always the most efficient.) As such, combat is something you only generally engage in if there's a significant gain to be had. Some people walk in expecting it to be like Risk or something where you attack every turn to make progress, but that's not the case.

umboito said:

FFG has a history for poorly organized rulebooks, but Runewars is not one of them. The basics are straightforward and easy to learn, but there's also plenty of subtle effects that you can pick up as you go. Make sure you read the rulebook yourself a couple times before the first game and then you and three friends should be good to go.

Runewars is fairly cut and dry as far as how its mechanics work. If you want something a bit more involved (and with correspondingly more complicated rules, mind you) you might also check out Twilight Imperium. A lot of the mechanics in Runewars are reminiscent of TI, but pared down and simplified for faster game play.

Gotta agree with what Steve-O said. New players to the game often loose because they focus on the Empire building aspect of the game. Some players will build massive armies thinking they will dominate the game only to loose in the middle of their grand design. They game is about collecting Rune Tokens. At any cost. If you can get that last Rune Token to win the game at the expense of all your troops on the board, then you do it.

I think there is a lot of backstabbing in this game because of the above. You should expect to be ambushed and or ganged up on often. Its the type of game Rune Wars is. To be frank, its probably my most favored game in my little collection.

If you want, you take take a look at the rules(in PDF format) here:

www.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/runewars/minisite/runewars-rulebook-web.pdf

I love this game. The rules are simple and well described. If you are playing with people who know the game it can be completed in 2 hours. And while not predominant, armies play an solid role in game play. Alliances are never anything more than passing words that you would find in any game. It's fun and well balanced. FFG actually did a couple of post on solid strategies for each race so you aren't going into the game not knowing how to play your race. It s a little pricy, but you can usually find it on discount. I would recommend getting it.

simpatikool said:

I see what you're saying, although to be fair you can't really backstab someone unless you've entered into some sort of agreement with them. Alliances are not formally part of the game. Players are free to make (and break) whatever agreements they want with each other, of course, but there's only as much politics in the game as the players bring into it. Mechanically, it's a free for all from the word "go."

I'm thinking about getting a copy of runewars to go with my copies of descent, runebound and dungeonquest.

The other 3 games all have something special about them that sets them apart from similar games, e.g. in runebound the movement rules, different dificulty levels for encounters and the way items appear (and stay) at the different city markets make the game stand out from similar games (e.g. Talisman).

My question is what makes runewars special, what rules or game element make this a unique gaming experience?

mulletcheese said:

The focus on territory control over out and out combat is probably the most unique aspect of the game. The way that the dials work (both in terms of when they gain/lose position and how they manage recruitment) is also interesting. It's one of the few "conquest" games that I genuinely enjoy playing with only 2 or 3 people. While I'm certainly in favour of seeing at least a 5-6 player expansion, the game is far from crippled for having the unusually low cap of 4 players.