Board game review: Arkham Horror

Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
The year of publication: 2005
Number of players: 1-8
Suitable for: 13 years to adult





 Lightning crashes in the dark expanse of the night sky. The bitter wind whispers lightly in the shadow, carrying an inconceivable dread as it sweeps into your living room. Its approach promises a demented, terrifying revelation almost too horrifying for the bearing of a fragile, mortal mind. Trembling with fear, your shaky hand reaches for yonder cards on the table... it's time for the next turn, the fate of Arkham city hangs on the balance, all existence in danger of being devoured by those twisted, awesomely powerful cosmic mysteries; in which forgotten legends alone have but caught a fleeting glimpse into maddening realities of all sorts and kinds...

Description:

Welcome to Arkham Horror, a horror themed, co-operative board game based on HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. Released in 2005, played with over 700 components and supporting from 1 to 8 players, Arkham Horror is a truly epic board game. Due to its overwhelming popularity, the publisher of this game has since released 8 expansion sets. These expansion sets enhance the replayability even further, by adding enormous amount of new features and game elements. 8 years after its original publication, Arkham Horror is still a widely played game, highly regarded by board game enthusiasts.

Game Components:

As I mentioned earlier, there are over 700 pieces of components in this game. Arkham Horror does not have the best looking game board, but the layout of the map and locations are very clear and highly functional. The game board is also fairly large, and lots of cards and tokens are used for the game. As a result, this game requires a sizable space for setup and play.

The art works on the components are beautifully drawn, very fitting to the theme and the atmosphere in the traditional Lovecraftian horror fictions. This game also requires a fair amount of reading from the cards. The texts on the cards are well written, immersing players into the ever presence of spookiness and stress. Overall, the theme of horror oozes in this game partly because of the component.

Lots of rules are required to play a gigantic game such as this. Luckily, the game comes with a 25+ page rulebook which is quite easy to read. The rulebook is often a good reference to resolve confusing situations. However, sometimes even this rulebook falls short, when it comes to helping players resolve ambiguous situations. Fortunately, lots of fans providing useful information which can be easily found on the internet.

Gameplay:

The background of the game, is set in the roaring year of 1926. In the town of Arkham in Massachusetts (a fictional town from Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos), strange phenomena are happening all over Arkham. Inter-dimensional gates are opening, releasing other-worldly entities into the town, terrorizing the local denizens from peace and safety. The players each take on the role as an investigator, travelling to various locales on the map to close these inter-dimensional gates before the Ancient One wakes up from its slumber to devour all lives on earth.

Basic setup:

Investigators:

To start the game, each player choose to play the role of an investigator. 16 investigators are available in this game to choose from. Each investigator has his/her own unique abilities, background stories, skills and endurance level. Every investigator has 2 categories to measure their endurance: Sanity and Stamina. When either of these are reduced to zero, the investigator must travel to the hospital or the mental asylum to recover, simultaneously loosing half of his/her possessions. Throughout the game, the players can buy items, spells, skills and recruit allies to aid his/her struggle against the evil force threatening to destroy Arkham. Players perform skill checks such as: combat, evasion, luck, and will check by throwing dice.

The Ancient One:

Next, the player randomly draw an Ancient One card. There are 8 different Ancient Ones in this game to choose from. The chosen Ancient One is essentially the "boss" for the rest of the game. Every Ancient One is different and have unique abilities, and different number of "doom tracks". Doom tracks serve for 2 purposes in this game: 1) It indicates how much further until the Ancient One awakens. In Arkham Horror, doom tracks are increased whenever an inter-dimensional gate is opened on the map, and can only be decreased if the gate is sealed. When the doom track is full, the Ancient One wakes up immediately and the players have to engage in the Final Battle against the Ancient One. 2) In the Final Battle, the doom track serves as the "life" of the Ancient One, to beat an Ancient One in the Final Battle, one must reduce the doom track to 0, by performing skill checks as prescribed on the Ancient One card.

 The abilities of these Ancient Ones also dedicate the difficulty of the game, and sometimes introduce permanent effects into the gameplay.

 Once the investigators and the Ancient One have been chosen, the game starts. Arkham Horror is essentially played in 3 phases: Movement phase, Encounter phase, and Mythos phase. Each player must perform all 3 phases in his/her turn before passing to the next player.

Actions per player turn:

In the movement phase, based on movement points, the player can move to different locales on the map to collect clue tokens. The locales can be a location (e.g. a bank), or on a street where the players might have to fight monsters (if present), or be drawn into the "outer world" through the inter-dimensional gate (if present).

In the encounter phase, when the player is ends his/her movement at a location, then he/she must draw an encounter card corresponding to the location where he/she is at. The encounter cards, often represent events that must take place, and require the player to perform certain actions to pass. Failure will prescribe negative outcomes. As a result, players can never be sure what will happen at the encounter phase, or whether if he/she will walk away from the encounter safely.

In the mythos phase, a mythos card is drawn from the deck. This is when new clues appear and a new inter-dimensional gate might open, releasing monsters into the town, while adding doom tracks to the Ancient One card. Simultaneously, sometimes there are rumors, events or headlines on the mythos card that can either introduce global benefit or disadvantages to the game.

In summary, when you play Arkham Horror, the encounter phase and mythos phase will really make you live in constant fear and stress over what might happen next. And this makes the game extremely fun and exciting to play.

Other features:

Items:

Players can purchase items at shops in the town of Arkham, to aid them on their quest to stop the Ancient One and its minions. There are 3 categories of items in Arkham Horror: Common items, unique items, and spells. These items can be either combat focused weapons/spells, maps, or items that helps to restore the investigator's sanity/stamina. Weapons can be either one handed or two handed. This means an investigator can dual wield. For example, an investigator can be equipped with a .38 revolver and an axe in his/her fight against a monster, or, alternatively use a 2 handed shot gun in a fight.  But as we all know, firing a puny .38 revolver at a titanic, cosmic monster such as Cthulhu don't do much in Lovecraft's stories, and neither is the case in this game. Some investigators have pre-determined items with them at the start of the game. For example, one of the investigators from the expansion starts the game with; a shotgun, a bottle of whiskey, and a motorcycle, you get the idea....

Monsters:

In Arkham Horror, whenever a gate opens up at a location. A monster comes through the gate from another dimension to terrorize the denizens of Arkham, making your life as an investigator harder. Monsters can travel into the streets, and have different toughness bonuses, horror bonuses, as well as special skills, introducing a variety of challenges into the game.

When a player encounters a monster, he/she can try to sneak pass a monster by passing an evade check (by throwing dice). But sooner or later, the player will have to battle a monster. This is because if the number of monsters on the map exceeds the limit, the terror level in Arkham will rise. When the terror level reach certain points, several locations (such as shops) will close down. In a fight against a monster, the player first have to pass a horror check (by throwing dice) or loose sanity points. After the horror check, the actual combat commence. The player has to pass the combat check (by throwing dice) to beat a monster. Some monsters are easy to beat, while some monsters can be real headaches. The rules for monster encounters in Arkham Horror, is another factor that makes the game oozing with theme. I mean, where else can you play a board game, when you shoot at a Fire Vampire with a tommy gun, and emerge from the battle victorious but almost gone insane? Only in Arkham Horror I say!

Gates:

As mentioned earlier, when a gate opens up, the doom track tokens on the Ancient One sheet is increased, and a new monster enters Arkham, making your life harder. The "gate" mechanism in this game, is one of the core mechanics of the game. Winning or loosing both depend on the number of gates present on the map. When the player arrives at a gate, he/she is drawn into the outer world. In the outer world, the player will have 2 encounters, then return to Arkham, where he/she will have the chance to either close or seal the gate.


Allies:

As the players struggle against the Ancient One and its minions for dear life, he/she might come across allies who can aid them in their noble courses. These allies often bring enhancements to the investigators' skills. It is worth mentioning that, these allies are mostly characters from Lovecraft's stories. For example, during the adventure, you might cross path and have characters such as Herbert West join you. After all, a helping hand never hurts, especially when you are going up against these terrifying, demented monsters, whose existence was only suggested in the abhorred grimoire of Necronomicon, written by the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred!






The Final Battle:

When the doom track on the Ancient One sheet is filled, the Ancient One awakens and enters the town of Arkham. All players are immediately drawn into a final battle with the Ancient One. The final battle is really awesome, but it is also extremely hard to win! Chances of survival is practically less than 40%! Why? imagine trying to attack a 60 feet tall cosmic monster with a knife? Or shoot at it with a tiny revolver, get the picture? My suggestion is to try your best to close all gates before the Ancient One wakes up. Prevention is better than cure, especially in Arkham Horror.

There are so many features and elements in this board game. In a review article such as this, it is neither fitting nor possible to describe the gameplay and rules in its entirety. Indeed, there are lots of rules in this game. Yet, in my opinion, the rules and the complex game mechanics are designed to ensure a rewarding, and fun board game experience.

What I think about this game:

Learning curve: (6/10) - Arkham Horror is epic! The game rules are also epic, both in numbers and its scale. A new comer to this game might be overwhelmed by the amount of rules, and the complex game mechanics prescribed in the rule book. The rules are mostly intuitive, but some rules (such as rules for monster fights) are difficult to grasp at first. This means, Arkham Horror, is one of those games when you really have to play for a few times before you can fully grasp the rules. If you are new to this game and wish to try it out, I suggest that you play with at least one person who knows this game, to smooth the steep learning curve.

Component/Production Quality: (7/10) - The art works in this board game are stunning, and showcases the atmosphere of Lovecraftian horror very well. However, in regard to the components, I have 2 complains about its production quality: 1) The game board is quite fragile. On my 4th play, the board broke at the joint area. I wonder if Fantasy Flight Games should choose a better manufacturer? 2) The bottom edge of the investigator tokens can be damaged easily, when placed into the clips of the stands. The resolution for this problem is, to purchase the pre-painted miniatures, but the price for the entire set of pre-painted investigator miniatures are simply too expensive.

Gameplay (9/10): Arkham Horror is a fun game. It is a horror themed board game, while it is spooky, but it is not scary. Some elements in the game can be very dark; on the other hand, playing this game requires a lot of reading from cards. By combining these factors, I think Arkham Horror is more suitable for older users, age 14+. The gameplay in Arkham Horror really manages to deliver a fun and exciting experience while immerse the players in a constant atmosphere of dread. It is fully co-operative, meaning you can play this game with a group, as a team, or you can play by yourself. I wouldn't recommend playing this game with more than 5 players, simply because I can forsee a lot of downtime when more than 5 players are involved. However, with a small group (3-4 people), Arkham Horror will truly provide hours of entertainment. A word of warning, Arkham Horror is also well known for its length, a single game can take between 1 to 4 hours. So if you are playing Arkham Horror, be prepared to sit down with your friends for a couple of hours.

Replayability (9/10): Arkham Horror is highly replayable. This is attributed to the game's high level of difficulty, and the element of randomness in its game mechanics. In addition, the 8 Ancient Ones and the 16 investigators included in this game also add a lot of replayability. Using different investigators, or fighting a different Ancient One, require players to approach the game with different strategies. This game also has 8 expansion sets, adding up to some 48 investigators, 3 additional maps, 20+ Ancient Ones, and hundreds of monsters. If you purchase all 8 expansion sets and play all of them at once, you will be playing a board game with almost 2000 components which might last more than 6 hours, a true beast of a board game! But expansion sets and their components are highly modular, meaning they can be used individually. Personally, I think if you purchase and like Arkham Horror and all 8 expansions, chances are you will probably never have to play another board game again.

Thematic factor (9/10): What can I say? The art works and the gameplay work together as a unison to make Arkham Horror a highly thematic game. Players will be breathing the theme of Lovecraftian horror as they play, quite a way to spend quality time with your friends or by yourself either way.

Overall (8.8/10): Arkham Horror is a master piece of a board game. It delivers on its promised horror theme, based on HP Lovecraft's classic literary invention. At the same time, it is a fun and exciting game, guaranteed to provide hours and entertainment and group bonding time.

Tribute article: The top 7 stories of Conan The Cimmerian by Robert E. Howard

"Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black haired, sullen eyed, sword in hand, a thief,  a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jewelled thrones of the earth under his sandaled feet.."

I have read many fantasy books and stories, some are better than the others, but I can honestly say,  no other books or stories are as re-readable, entertaining and exciting as Robert E. Howard's Conan stories. I am grateful to have discovered Robert E. Howard among the sea of authors. With a touch of magic, stories of Conan the Cimmerian, has made my career as a reader so much more fun and exciting. There are good reasons, almost 80 years after Robert Howard's death, the name Conan, has become an immortal cultural icon as enduring as Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan, and James Bond. In recent years, the demand for reprints of Robert Howard's original Conan stories is always increasing. Thankfully, as more and more people are re-introduced to these original Conan stories, their impressions of Conan are gradually steering away from comic books and Arnold movies.

Conan, the legendary barbarian's chronicle, has charmed me with fantastic tales of ice and fire, actions and intrigues. These stories are told through Robert Howard's dynamic, vibrant and energetic writings, in the unique style of poetical lyricism. From the first minute I opened the page, to the last second I close it, every time I read a Conan story, I am transported to a realm of infinite possibilities, populated with larger than life characters, packed with high adventures..a whole new world.

This article is a tribute to Robert E. Howard's Conan, I have had intentions to write an article of this nature for a while, and finally got around to do so. Howard wrote 21 Conan stories in his life time, and I have picked 7 of my favorite Conan stories, as a recommendation to those who might be interested.

Without further delay, let me tell of of the days of high adventures!

7. Rogues in the House (Published in January 1934)

Rogues in the House, is a story with all elements constituting towards a good tale: a political power struggle, betrayals, mystery, dungeon crawling adventures, thought provoking antagonists, and solid, heart pounding action scenes.

There is a very interesting theme in this story, the theme of "hypocrisy". The plot revolves around the power struggle between two governmental leaders. Both leaders were corrupt in their own ways (one manipulates the king, the other sells government secret to the enemy kingdom). They both use their personal influence and power to gain status and reputation in the city. However, when they stumble upon each other during Conan's quest (who was previously arrested and imprisoned on the charge of murder), they realized they are equally as corrupt, while Conan seems to be the most honest one in contrast, because Conan doesn't try to conceal his criminal nature.

6. The People of the Black Circle (Published in September 1934)

The People of the Black Circle, is often considered as a classic among the Conan chronicles. Howard gave a story an atypical "Indian" spin. The story took place in the land of Vendhya (pre-historical India). In the story, by accident, Conan was  drawn into a political conspiracy and an assassination plot.

 This story has a full cast of intriguing characters. The most notable ones include the princess whom Conan is protecting, whose character comically contrasting the character of Conan, making them a very odd couple. The other interesting characters include the lively portrayal of the antagonist, an apprentice wizard who defied his master for the girl that he loves. The People of the Black Circle, is a spectacular story with a tinge of magic vibrating through its core.


5. Red Nails (Published in July 1936)

Red Nails is the last Conan story by Robert Howard  before his tragic death. One of the prevailing theme in Howard's Conan saga, is the theme of the degeneration of civilizations and the tendency towards barbarism, lying dormant in the human nature. In Red Nails, Conan and a sword woman, discovered an ancient, ruined city in the wilderness. Upon their exploration of the ruined city, they discovered inhabitants in the city, who were remnants of a once mighty and powerful civilization. However, power struggles, greed and political ambitions prompted years of civil wars, and the population of the city was reduced to a few tormented souls, who were completely detached from the outside world.

Many have accredited Red Nails as one of the best stories in the Conan saga, and I heartily agree with such an assessment.



4. Queen of the Black Coast (Published in May 1934)

Queen of the Black Coast, is an atypical Conan story. It is atypical not only because its scope is epic, but also because it is a very rare Conan story revolving around romance.

In this story, Conan became an infamous pirate, plundering and raiding along side a head strong femme fatale, Belit. The plot then takes an unexpected twist and finished off with a bitter sweet ending.

Queen of the Black Coast, is widely acknowledged as the most famous Conan stories, and certainly an undisputed classics in the world of sword and sorcery fiction.








3. Tower of the Elephant (Published in March 1933)

Tower of the Elephant, is a fascinating blend of the science fiction and sword and sorcery genres. The result? A massively entertaining and curiously bizarre master piece! Published in 1933, Tower of the Elephant is often regarded by Howard scholars as one of the best Conan stories.

The story starts with Conan as a young thief, unfamiliar with the ways of the civilized world. A whim of chance presents Conan at a tavern. After Conan heard a story about a sorcerer, a fabled jewel and the mysterious Elephant tower, Conan braved rumors of death and horror in the Elephant tower to steal the precious Jewel. Little did Conan know that he was about to have an encounter with the elder world, and was given a glimpse into the past through the lurk worm of space and time..




2. The Hour of the Dragon (Published in 1935-1936)

The Hour of the Dragon is the longest Conan story. It is a story about political conspiracy, betrayals, loyalty, military conquests, a evil wizard, and revenge.

The Hour of the Dragon, tells the story of a middle aged Conan as the King of Aquilonia. Conspirators under Conan's reign seek to overthrow the Cimmerian and rule in his stead. They raised an evil necromancer of the elder world from the dead. Dreaming of kingship and conquest, the conspirators seek to manipulate the necromancer and the power he possess. They almost succeeded in putting Conan out of the way with the aid from the necromancer's black magic. Although betrayed and imprisoned, Conan is not the kind of person to be trampled easily. Since birth, the Cimmerian's fortitude was hardened by the tough lifestyle on the vistas of somber hills in Cimmera whence he came. Conan will fight back as a wounded lion, to take back the throne which was his.



1. Beyond the Black River (Published in 1935)

"Barbarism vs. civilization", is a prevailing theme underlining all of Howard's Conan stories. Howard observed, history has shown that civilizations has the tendency towards corruption, and hence the weaver of its own doom through over-indulgence and degenerative lifestyles. When the level of corruption reaches the peak of its degeneracy, barbarism will arise to overthrow the civilization, establishing a new era.. then the pattern repeats.

In "Beyond the Black River", a medium length, action packed Conan story. Howard fully explores his worldview on barbarism vs. civilization, by telling a story that took place in a frontier setting. Conan is drawn into the struggle of an empire and its savage, primitive neighbors at the imperial border. Conan became the first hand witness of the clash between civilization and barbarism, and its effects on the lives of all  who were involved.

 Beyond the Black River, in my opinion, is the best original Conan stories in the lot. Howard departed from his normative Conan settings such as ancient ruins or populated cities, and instead chose to tell a refreshing Conan yarn in the frontier setting, while fully explored the cause and effect on the clash between barbarism and civilization.  A tale imbued with element fury, and told at neck-breaking pace, Beyond the Black River, not only is a brilliant Conan story, but it is also a genre breaking story among the fantasy fiction galore, hacking and slashing its way into the hall of fame with blood and thunder.

That's it folks! If you are interested, I am sure you will find these stories providing hours of good reading.

Stay tuned for next time, when I will write a special article on "The top 7 horror stories by H.P Lovecraft".

Book Review: Legend of Drizzt - The Icewind Dale Trilogy

The Icewind Dale trilogy, is the second set of books in R.A Salvatore's Drizzt saga. The story continues from the end of Dark Elf trilogy, with Drizzt's arrival to Icewind Dale, a frozen tundra populated by outlaws and exiles from all corners of the world.

Unlike Dark Elf trilogy, focusing on the story of Drizzt. Icewind Dale trilogy tells the story of Drizzt and his four friends, which later became known as "Companions of the Hall". Let me provide a brief synopsis for each of the books in this trilogy:





Synopsis:

The Crystal Shard:

After Drizzt arrived at Icewind Dale, he befriended a leader of an dwarven clan in exile, Bruenor Battlehammer. The dwarf has an adopted human daughter, Catti Brie. Drizzt became a very close friend with the dwarf and his adopted daughter. However, the icy wasteland of Icewind Dale is a dangerous place. The barbarian horde invaded the town. During the invasion, a young barbarian boy, Wulfgar, was captured while attempting to attack Bruenor and Drizzt.

The dwarf and the dark elf decided to raise Wulfgar, and taught him the way of civilized manners, as well as training him in the skill of arms. Wulgar became an adopted son to Bruenor, and grew up to be a fine young man. Together with their halfling friend Regis, the 5 friends were living a happy life in Icewind Dale. One day, a mad wizard came to Icewind Dale with a strange, magical crystal. This wizard's mad ambition and twisted ploy threatens all who lives in Icewind Dale. Drizzt and his friends embarked a quest to unite the people of Icewind Dale against the mad scheme of the ill intent wizard..


Streams of Silver:

Following the events in The Crystal Shard, Drizzt and his friends were hailed as heroes of Icewind Dale. Drizzt also received some form of recognition from the people of Icewind Dale, somehow overcoming the stereotypes against him because of his racial origin. One day, Bruenor discovered traces, leading to the once mighty dwarven stronghold of Mithral Hall.

The companions set out to help Bruenor rediscover his dwarven ancestral home. Yet, dangers lurk in the dark corners unseen. Artemis Entrei, a deadly human assassin was hired by a infamous and powerful criminal overlord to hunt down Drizzt's friend, the halfling Regis, for a ruby pendant that was stolen from him.

With threats and dangers facing the companions,  Drizzt and his friends only have each other in their difficult quest, in the dark corners of the mythical dwarven ruin, the companions will face not only the deadly assassin Artemis, but also a more ancient, and terrible foe yet to be revealed.


The Halfling's Gem:

The dwarven ancestral home has been rediscovered in the previous book. In Halfling's gem, the deadly assassin Artemis Entrei finally got hold of Regis the halfling. The assassin took Regis to the city of Calimport, to collect the bounty.

Realizing their halfling friend's dire situation. The campanions set out once again, facing impossible odds and dangers to travel to Calimport, in attempt to rescue Regis the hafling from the clutch of the dangerous criminal overlord, Pasha Pook. It is here, where Drizzt will face the deadly assassin Artemis Entrei, whose skills rival Drizzt's own, yet with a polar opposite character to Drizzt.








What I think about these books:

Icewind Dale trilogy, contains the same charms found in Dark Elf trilogy. The introspective Drizzt has some very interesting things to say as he character grows and matures in these stories. The character developments in these stories are good. This trilogy also introduces a very fascinating antagonist, Artemis Entrei, whose skills and prowess are parallel to that of Drizzt's own. Yet, the character of Artemis is everything that Drizzt is not. This conflict makes a wonderful contrast between Drizzt and Artemis as the duo go toe to toe into their conflict. It seems Artemis, a human generally accepted by the society, whose soul and actions in fact are more akin to Drows. While Drizzt, a Drow generally shunned by the society because of racial stereotypes, in fact has a soul and character more akin the noble nature of humans. Through all the moments leading up their final confrontation, among the exchange of words, thoughts, sword thrusts, cut and parries, as well as Drizzt's insightful reflection, where Salvatore masterfully written these stories, challenging the readers about some thought provoking questions, such as self identity, true friendships, stereotypes and the dangers of judging people from their appearances.

With 2 thumbs up, I recommend The Icewind Dale trilogy. If you have read Dark Elf trilogy, then be sure to include this into your reading list. If you haven't read Dark Elf trilogy yet, go and pick up both trilogies. Inside these pages you will find heart warming adventures about friendships and loyalty, told through stories full of lovable, impressionable characters.

Book review: Legend of Drizzt - Dark Elf Trilogy

Where do I start? You see, Drizzt, has a very special place in my heart. I suppose I could start by saying this is the beginning of a series of book reviews, long overdue. I am intending to review 13 Drizzt novels on my bookshelf.

Looking back, Dark Elf trilogy, is the set of books that helped me to discover the fun and joy in reading. There are many reasons why I love the story of Drizzt. It is mainly because I feel connected with the character, and these stories often remind me of virtues that people no longer believe in our culture, which is full of cynicism.

This will be the first of many book reviews to come. This is because I really love this series, and I would like to introduce Drizzt to those who have not read it yet. So here it goes. Today, I will review the first 3 books in the Legend of Drizzt, collectively known as "Dark Elf Trilogy".

Synopsis:

There are 3 books in Dark Elf Trilogy:

Homeland:

Homeland, is the first book in the Drizzt saga. The story recounts the birth of Drizzt at the city of Menzoberranzan. In the world of where the story of Drizzt took place, Drizzt's people, are the Drows (Dark Elves). Drows/dark elves are known as a race of evil beings, selfish and cruel. They are distantly related to elves, but have dark skin and live in underground caverns, known as the "Underdark". Drizzt, is born a Drow, and at very young age, he was selected to be trained as a warrior. He was trained by the best weaponmaster in the Drow city. The normal upbringing of the Drow children, consists of education in the selfish and merciless ways of the Drow culture and moral code. However, Drizzt's weaponmaster taught him a set of different values which are counter to the Drow culture. Because of this, Drizzt grew up to be a very different Drow compared to his peers. Drizzt's values and belief, ultimately forced him to flee from his birthplace, but this is only the beginning.







Exile:

In book 2, following Drizzt's escapade from his birthplace. He lived a life as an exile in the Underdark, a place full of dangerous and hostile creatures. Devoid of companionship, Drizzt constantly craved for friendships. His only friend in his life as an exile, is a she-panther whom can be summoned from another dimension for a limited time per day.

After an extended period of wandering in the cold and dangerous Underdark, Drizzt finally met someone who he can trust, someone who Drizzt can call a friend. But the Drow priestess will not let Drizzt escape that easily, they view Drizzt's escape from the Drow city as a betrayal, and they want to hunt him down. It seems for Drizzt, his only chance is to escape the Underdark into the surface world.






Sojourn:

In book 3, Drizzt escaped into the surface world. He saw sunshine for the first time in his life. The surface world is new to Drizzt, the surface dwellers, such as human and elves are meant to be "good" folks. As Drizzt step into the sun, emerging from the Underdark, he had many hopes for his future. Including finding a place where he can belong to.

Unfortunately, very soon Drizzt came to the painful realization that, the reputation of his people's evil way is renowned to the surface dwellers. Not only did he meet rejection from people, but he was always attacked on sight by human and elves alike. It seemed to Drizzt, in the mind of these so called "good" people, stereotypes and racial origin is the standard for judging one's character and soul.

With this revelation, Drizzt was driven into sojourn, travelling from one place to another. Always avoiding the surface dwellers and steering away from the eyes of others. Eventually, Drizzt arrived at the frozen wasteland of Icewindale, a tundra where the outlaws and exiles dwell. It is here, when Drizzt will meet four people who will become very dear to him. Hence a resting place for his heart.


Some thoughts on Dark Elf Trilogy:

Dark Elf Trilogy, is the beginning of the Drizzt saga. This is a wonderful trilogy, the characters in these books are memorable and likable.  Drizzt, is an introspective character who constantly reflects on his own actions, and grows from them, this enables readers to connect with the character. Actions scenes are well written, stories are full of excitements. The story of Drizzt is refreshing, it uses a fantasy story, and a fantasy character to challenge its readers about topics such as racial stereotypes and moral codes without being preachy.

It is no wonder why all 18 Drizzt novels are listed on New York Times Bestsellers list. If you have not read Legend of Drizzt, do no hesitate, pick up Dark Elf Trilogy (or Book 1) and start reading it. I am sure you will fall in love with series just as I did.

Stay tuned for the next review, I will talk about Icewindale Trilogy, which is the next installment following Dark Elf Trilogy.

 

Board Game review: Age of Conan - The Strategy Board Game

Date of publication: 2009

Publisher: Nexus game/Fantasy Flight game

Number of players: 2-4

Suited for: Age 12 to adults

First of all, I need to clarify, board game is my new hobby. Therefore, this is literally, my first board game review. All things must have a beginning, and I am going write my first board game review on "Age of Conan the strategy board game".

Age of Conan, is the first board game I purchased in my life. I picked this game, as my stepping stone into the world of board games, because I am a huge fan of Robert E. Howard, and I also like the character Conan and the Hyborian age. I've played the MMO computer game, Age of Conan, but I just didn't like it very much. However, in the past, I have seen this board game on the shelves of bookshops and the like, and I was always curious about it.

I purchased the game from Fantasy Flight Game during its Christmas special sales, for 25 bucks (it is usually around 80 bucks). I don't have anyone to play with me yet, but I have played about 5 solo games now, and developed an AI rule for my solo sessions. By now, I think I know enough about the game to write a review. Just keep in mind, my review is based on solo playthroughs.

Description:

Age of Conan, is a thematic war game, set in Robert E. Howard's literary invention, Conan the Cimmerian. If you are unfamiliar with Howard's Conan stories. The world of Conan was called the Hyborian Age, it is a pseudo historical era dated about 15,000 years ago. During the time of Hyborian Age, the world was one continent, populated by different civilizations.

Official promotion trailer for Age of Conan: The strategy board game

This game supports 2-4 players. Each player takes control over one of the four dominant civilizations from Hyborian age, seeking to expand their empires through military conquests and diplomacy. At the same time, Conan, wanders around in the Hyborian continent, embarking personal adventures. In this game, no one really controls Conan (a very interesting gameplay mechanism I will explain later), however, a smart player will try to incorporate Conan's movements on the map into his/her strategy for maximum benefit.

Game components:

This game comes with high quality components. It has a rule book, a very big and sturdy board, 2 sets of dices, lots of cards, tokens, and 170 pieces of plastic miniatures (including 1 Conan miniature and an adventure marker). There are 4 kingdoms for the players to choose from: Aquilonia, Hyperborea, Stygia, and Turan. Each of these kingdoms have their own set of kingdom cards, miniatures, and they are different to each other. This means, the player need to use different strategies when playing as a different kingdom. 

The art works on the cards are very beautiful, the board is big and beautifully drawn. The plastic miniatures are very detailed, and are divided into 4 kingdoms. Each kingdom has different looking miniatures, with their corresponding color codes. Each kingdom has 4 types of components/units: Soldier, Emmisory, fort, and tower. The soldier units are used in military contests, emmisory units are used in intrigue contests, forts are markers for player controlled provinces won through military conquests, while towers are markers for player controlled provinces through intrigue contests. 

Gameplay:

The core mechanics of this game is a bit complex, I will not provide a detailed walkthrough here, but simply outline the general rules. Essentially, this game has 2 major aspects. The first aspect, is the part when the player bids for control of Conan and his adventures. The second aspect, is the actual war game itself (conquering pronvinces, sending emmisories etc..). In order to give you an idea of how this works, I will explain the role of Conan first.

The role of Conan in this game:

As I have mentioned before, in Age of Conan, no one really controls Conan. So you might wonder, how does this work? Personally, I think the control mechanism of Conan in this game, is absolutely genius! Let me explain.

In this game, the goal for each player is to gain as much "empire point" through his/her playthrough. This can be done by conquering pronvinces on the map, or achieving certain objectives in the game. 

One of the roles of Conan, is to dictate the time and progress of this game. Age of Conan is played in 3 ages. Each age consists of 4 Conan adventures. The Conan adventures are played out using an adventure deck. At the beginning of every adventure, a new adventure card is drawn, the destination is shown on the card, with the number of adventure tracks/tokens shown at the bottom of the card. The adventure tokens, represent the length of the adventure in play. The players then bid for Conan, the player with the highest bid, recives the right to control Conan for that adventure, and collects adventure tokens while he guides Conan to progress with the adventure. Collecting adventure tokens, is one of the ways to win the game (but not the only way to win). After an adventure is completed, a new adventure card is drawn, and the bidding process starts again. The completion of 4 adventures, symbolizes the end of an age. This is the time when scores are rewarded to each player, and new Conan adventure decks are set up for the next age/phase. So essentially, the timing in Age of Conan, has 3 phases.

But the role of Conan doesn't end here. The player who wins the bid for Conan (the Conan player), receives certain benefits when Conan is in the province he/she is trying to conquer. At the same time, if a non-Conan player is attacking a province where Conan is at, then Conan works against him/her. On top of this, the Conan player can also drop "raider coins" in other player's provinces, causing his/her opponents to loose empire points if the raids are not resolved properly at the end of an age.

Finally, in the 3rd age. If the Conan player manages to guide Conan to his/her home province at an end of an adventure. He/she can end the game early, by crowning Conan. A successful attempt to crown Conan, reward the player with massive number of empire points, which might help the player to win in the end. However, if you fail, then Conan laughs in your face and cut your head off! (meaning the player looses the game immediately and is out of the game).

In summary, in this game, a cunning player will try to take advantage of Conan's presence, or use Conan to sabotage his opponents' progress. Conan acts as a force of nature, the legendary Cimmerian wanders around on the map for his own personal interests. What tends to happen is Conan can be an aid to your plan in this round, but can suddenly work against you in the next round.  Personally, I think the way Conan is presented in this game, is very faithful to the way Conan was envisioned in Robert E. Howard's original short stories.

The war game part:

The major part of this game, is the contest for dominance. Each player takes turns to perform his/her actions. The actions are determined by rolling 7 fate dice. Afterward, the player pick a dice from the dice pool, to engage in either: military action (conquering pronvinces), intrigue action (winning provinces through diplomacy), or court action (playing even cards, drawing more cards etc..).

The military and intrigue contests are played out by throwing 6 dices. The player wins the contest by scorcing more hits than his opponent's hit score from the dice throw. There are 3 types of military contests: campaign, siege, and battle. Campaign is when the player attacks an uncontrolled, neutral province. Siege, is when the player attacks a province owned by another player. Battle, is when two players' armies meet in a neutral province. When a player conquers a pronvince through military contests, the player gains empire points. Intrigue contests, shares similar principle as military contests, but when a player wins an intrigue contest, he/she gets gold instead of empire points.

The player can also buid card decks. Each kingdom, has an unique set of "kingdom cards", and there is also a set of strategy cards, with 2 functions: 1) used to bid for Conan, and 2) adding bonuses during contests. These cards, are essential to help the players to win contests. The player can increase his/her card deck, by drawing cards when the court action is chosen during his/her turn. In my experience, it is not very easy to win a contest without using these cards.

What I think about this game:

Learning curve: (7/10) - As a new comer to the world of board games, I found the initial learning curve of this game a bit steep. There are many rules to learn. For me, the gameplay only started to flow smoothly when I finally mastered the rules in my 3rd playthrough. Veterans to board games (war games) might find the rules easy to learn, but for new comers and casual gamers, the learning curve could be slightly steep. The good thing is, the rules are intiuitive and not very confusing, anyone should be able to get the rough idea of the rules after 1 sitting. While mastering 90% of all game rules after 2 playthroughs. Once you are familiarized with the rules, the gameplay flows very smoothly. I think it might be slightly difficult for younger players (kids) to learn the complex rules in this game. In other words, I think this game is more suitable for adults who have better reading, and comprehension abilities.

Component/production quality: (9/10) - This game has very high quality components. The board is beautiful, the presentation of the board feels like an ancient artifact I dug out in some forgotten desert. It captures the theme really well. The cards are thick, glossy and have beautiful art works. There are plenty of plastic miniatures, these pieces are highly detailed, the Conan miniature looks especially amazing. Overall, this game is asthetically pleasing to look at, and the components are robust and sturdy.

Gameplay: (7.5/10) - I've had lots of fun playing this game. I really like the way Conan is treated in this game, it is very faithful to the vision of Conan from the source materials. The game is also very balanced. Although every kingdom has different abilities, but they are all approximately equal in strength. The core mechanics delivered a very good balance between randomness and strategy, while presenting a variety of choices to players to craft his/her strategy. In this game, there is not just one way to win, and sometimes, even the most carefully laid out plan will not always guarantee a victory. I only have two complains about the gameplay: 1) This game doesn't really encourage the players to attack each other. There are not enough incentives to encourage the players to attack each other. This means unless you are playing against someone who is/are very aggressive, the players will feel like they are playing against the board instead of against each other. 2) The Conan adventures are not fleshed out very well, the descriptions for the adventures are too short. After a while, the Conan adventures just feel like a timer to dictate the pace of the game, and don't contribute to the theme very much. Another thing, I also feel that this game plays better when there are 4 players. I heard there was an expansion planned, addressing these issues. Unfortunately, it turned out that Nexus Games is not in business anymore, so sadly this means we may never see the expansion set.

Replayability: (8/10) - In my 5 playthroughs, every playthrough is different. The fact there are 4 kingdoms with different abilities, also means the player needs to adapt a different strategy when playing a different kingdom, further adding to the replay value.

Thematic factor: (8/10) - This game is highly thematical and very immersive. The presentation, and the gameplay mechanics compounded to an authentic Hyborian experience. Even if you know nothing of Robert E. Howard's Conan, you will still enjoy the theme and the atmoshphere presented in this game.

Overall: (8/10) - I am happy that this is the first board game I've ever purchased. When Age of Conan board game was released in 2009, it received mixed reviews. Apparently the main reason why people were disspointed, was because of the wrong expectation, that this was to be an adventure, hack and slash styled game, where the player gets to play as Conan. But Age of Conan is a war strategy game, the game designer never advertised this as an adventure or RPG game. It was advertised as a war strategy game, and it definitely suceedded as a solid war game! This really is a fine game that deserves to be played more. I certainly think this is a fine Christmas present for myself. I've had a lot of fun even just playing by myself, and I think the fun factors will increase playing with a group of friends over a large table. If you are having a board game night with your friends, when you want a good, fantasy themed, strategy/war board game, Age of Conan won't disappoint. 

 



5 great (retro) fantasy movies you probably haven't seen yet

Peter Jackson's latest fantasy epic, The Hobbit Part 1 is about to hit the cinema (I am suspicous of how this will turn out, because he is turning a 300 page book into 3 movies). The Hobbit is already receiving mixed reviews, but as expected, this movie is destined to draw a huge crowd of viewers this holiday season, and is bound to earn big money at the box office. This made me realize something, in recent days, whenever the phrase "fantasy movie" is mentioned, most people are immediately reminded of Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, or Harry Potter.

But I tell you the truth. Know! Oh viewers, that before the time of multi million dollar CGI, there was a golden age of fantasy movies undreamed of, when shining armors, real life actions and fantastic stories glowed with magical charms upon the vistas of silver screens.

Today, I am going to tell you 5 (in my opinion), great fantasy movies you probably haven't seen. Here it goes:

5. Die Nibelungen (1924)

 Die Nibelungen is a series of 2 silent fantasy films, made in 1924. Directed by Austrian director Fritz Lang. The movie itself, is an adaptation of the epic poem, Nibelungenlied, in 1200 AD (the Old Norse parallel is The Saga of Volsung). The movie retells the story of Siegfried the dragonslayer, and the tragic romantic love triangle between Siegried, Brunhild the Queen of Iceland, and Kremhild the princess of Burgundy. It is a beautiful story with dragons, dwarves, Valkyries, the Huns, tragedy, romance, betryal and the kind of stuff that inspired Tolkien to write his Middle Earth saga. And unlike most modern adaptations of classical stories. Die Nibelungen is a very faithful adaptation to the original epic poem. If you like Richard Wagner's famous opera (the Ring of the Nibelung), then this movie is a definite classic you cannot miss.

4. Fire and Ice (1983)

 Fire and Ice, is an animated adventure-fantasy film. This movie, was ranked by Online Film Critics Society, as the 99th greatest animated films of all time. There are serveral reasons why this film is great. First of all, one of the producers of this film was Frank Frazetta, one of the best fantasy artists of all time. The drawings in this animated feature all have the unique style of Frank Frazetta's arts. Secondly, the screenplay was written by Roy Thomas, one of the best comic book storywriters fronm Marvel. Thirdly, the vividness of scenes in this film are captured by the process of rotoscoping, where the live actoin scenes were shot, then traced with animated cels. Until this day, Fire and Ice is still a remarkable film to watch.

3. Draongslayer (1981)

As the title suggests, this is a fantasy movie about slaying dragons (very self explanatory). The story of Dragonslayer, however, is quite interesting. In Dragonslayer, the land is plagued with a powerful, evil dragon whose apetite for destruction can only tamed, through the sacrifice of a young woman on regular basis. The tormented villagers eventually seek out the aid of a powerful sorcerer, to rid the land of the evil dragon. However, the sorcer suffered a most untimely death. And his apprentice must take up the mantle left over to him, to slay this dragon with half baked wizard skills (due to his unfinished training as a sorcerer), and free the oppressed people once and for all. The special effects in this movie are quite stunning. To make it even more impressive, this is all done before the days of CGI.

2. Conan the Barbarian (1982)



Conan the Barbarian, is THE movie that made Arnold famous. Although Arnold's Conan is not really what Conan's creator, Robert E. Howard, invisioned Conan and his world to be, nonetheless, this movie, not only made Arnold famous, but also started a whole spree of fantasy movie making in 1980s, gaining the prestige as a cult classic. I am one of those Robert E. Howard fans who is well aware of how this Conan movie painfully deviates from the original material. It is worth mentionig that the screenplay of Conan the Barbarian was writen by award winning screenwriter John Milus and Oliverstone (Platoon, Scarface, Midnight Express etc..), but the writers seemed to just take the name of the character Conan, and threw as many nihilistic elements into the story as possible. Another bizzare phenomenon, is Arnold had minimal amount of dialogues in this film, and most of his dialogues are replaced by the awesome soundtracks from Basil Poledouris (the soundtracks are really good). The first 20 mintues the film felt like a speechless musical play. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed this film. It is hard to say exactly what makes this movie fun to watch. Perhaps it is the combination of: the awesome soundtracks by Basil Poledouris, a story glaring with nihilistic philosophy, and the almost "silent" presence of Arnold as Conan, which created a weird, wacko, and wicked chemistry, somehow worked quite well in this "not very Conan" Conan movie. Anyway, Conan the Barbarian, is still one of those fantasy movies widely recommended among the fans of the genre.

 

1. Excalibur (1981)

 Taking the crown as the top of my list, is John Boorman's Excalibur. Made in 1981, this is my most favorite fantasy movie. In many ways, I actually prefer Excalibur to Peter Jackson's LOTR. Excalibur, is a retelling of the beautiful story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, from the birth of Arthur and the time of Uther Pendragon, to Arthur's death in the war against Modred in the "Final Battle". This movie, is probably the most faithful adapation of Sir Thomas Molary's classic romance "Le Morte d'Arthur" from the 15th century. Excalibur, features music of Richard Wagner, and original scores by Trevor Jones. The visuals and the costumes are highly impressionable and astounding. In my opinion, Excalibur succeeds on story, theme, settings, music, and visuals. There aren't many fantasy movies that can surpass this master piece. A while ago, there were talks of a remake, I am glad it didn't happen, because as we have seen from the quality of remakes today, a new version of Excalibur would definitely be ruined by the marketing ploys of movie companies to milk cash.


Here they are, 5 great, and retro fantasy movies you probably haven't seen yet. Perhaps, after you are disappointed with Peter Jackson's new Hobbit movie in a few days' time. You can go to your local video store and take out these classics, and see the quality of movies do not always go hand in hand with multi-million dollar CGI.

Happy holiday!

Book Review: The Sowers of the Thunder by Robert E. Howard - Donald Grant Publishing 1976

Today, I am going to review a very cool book!

What's so cool about this book? Well, first of all. When this book was published in 1976, only 1200 copies were made available, and yes! This book, has been out of print for a long time. Secondly, look at the title of this book, it's called "The Sowers of the Thunder", now where the heck are you going to find a book with a title as cool as this? Thirdly, this book, is a collection of 4 fast paced, sword swinging historical stories written by Robert E. Howard himself. Fourthly, this book has some really cool illustration and artworks in it.

Throughout his career as a writer, from 1920s to 1930s, Robert E. Howard (creator of Conan, Kull, Bran Mak Morn, Solomon Kane, Francis Xavier Gordons etc..) wrote a variety of stories, from fantasy, adventure, horror, boxing, western, historical stories,  comedies to poems. It is estimated that in his career of 15 years, Howard wrote more than 3 million words of poems and stories.

Most people know Robert E. Howard from his character, Conan. However, very few people know that some of Howard's best works are his historical fictions. Collected in this book, are 4 of Howard's sword swinging historical fictions, all took place during the crusade era, set in the region of Outremer. The 4 stories are: The Lion of Tiberas, The Sowers of the Thunder, Lord of Samarcand, and The Shadow of the Vulture. Every story carries the traditional Howardian style, lyrical prose with lightning fast pace. All of these historical fictions have tragic endings, and they are definitely some of the darkest stories that Howard ever wrote. At the same time, these stories are without doubt, some of his finest works.

So, if you are a fan of Robert E. Howard, or if you are a fan of historical fiction. Next time, when you come across this book, do no hesitate. Grab it immediately, because while you can get these 4 stories in Del Ray's series of Robert E. Howard Library of Classics, but this book, published in 1976 by Donald Grant Publishing, is a truly beautiful book deserves to be collected.