From: kcisnow@yahoo.com (Tom Vasel)
Subject: [Review] Warangel

I first heard of Warangel when it hit the top 10 in ranked games on
Boardgamegeek.  I had never heard of the game and was intrigued that
out of many comments, there were no negative comments.  From what I
could tell, the game is a huge hit in Italy.  Then I tried to find the
game for purchase and had a difficult time, as the only company I
could find that carried it in America was New Wave, and the only way
I'll ever order from them again is if every other store in the world
simultaneously explodes, and maybe not even then.  I finally was able
to get the game directly from the designer, who self-publishes the
game, Angelo Porazzi from Italy.

So is Warangel worth all the hype it's gotten (mostly from Italians)? 
The short answer is that it is an excellent light war game, with
replayability options I've seen in few other games.  It's a terrific
game, and I'm glad I took the trouble to track it down.  Now for the
longer answer….

First, a short description of game play…

Each player takes an army of their choosing.  (10 armies are included
in the basic set, with 80 more armies included in each expansion.). 
The armies included in the basic set are the Insects, Tentaculates
(Octopus type army), Ghosts (evil guys), Felinians (humanoid cats,
tigers, etc.), Barbarians, Centaurs, Ninja (ninjas with dragons),
Sirens (mermaids and sharks), Gladiators and Eagles.  Each army is
very unique, with different statistics for the units.  An army comes
with a master, who is the leader of the army and has the best
statistics.  Then, each army has four other units, ranging from a
powerful "dominant" class to the regular foot soldiers.  Each army is
made up of about 50 cardboard counters, with illustrations of the
units on them.  Each army comes with an army sheet that shows the
statistics of the units along with explanations of their special
abilities.  The first ability is power.  The number of a creature's
power shows how many shields it can flip when attacking in hand to
hand combat.  The game comes with tokens that have a picture of a
shield on one side, and blank on the other.  If a creature has a power
of "5", they can flip 5 shields, inflicting from 0 to 5 hits.  The
next statistic is vitality, which determines how many hits a unit can
take each turn.  If my creature with a power "5" attacks a creature
with vitality of "4", my creature must show 4 shields when flipping to
kill the creature it is attacking.  Wounds are not accumulated, as
each creature "heals" between turns.  However, in one turn, several
units may combine their power to take down a creature with high
vitality.

The next statistic is movement.  This determines how far a creature
can move on the maps.  The maps, made up of many different terrain
types, are made up of many hexagons.  Each player has a map of their
own; these maps are not connected to each other in a physical sense. 
Instead, there are 10 "Blue Holes" on each map that correspond to the
"blue hole" on the opponent's map.  It costs three movement points to
move through these holes, the only way to move from map to map.  Other
terrain types, such as mountains and water, cost more movement points
to move through than regular terrain.

The next statistic is warrior amount.  This number determines how many
of that type of creature each player starts the game with.  When the
game is begun, each player takes their total number of units (varies
from army to army, but is usually around fifty) and places them on
their map, putting a shield up between the maps so that initial
placement is secret.  Each player also sets up 7 fortresses, each with
a resource point underneath.  These resources range from 1 – 3 points,
and determine game victory.  Each player starts with 10 resource
points, and must control only 12 resource points to win the game –
capturing only one or two of their opponent's fortresses.  Each space
may only have one unit in it, except for fortresses, where a unit may
reside as a garrison.

The next statistic is value, not used in Warangel – being used in
Warbeast, a compatible game system.  The final statistic is
specializations.  This shows what terrain type, if any, that the
creature is most comfortable in.  In this terrain, the creature only
spends one movement point and may re-flip their shield when attacking.
 Most creatures also have other special abilities.  There are a wide
variety of these, but they include: flying, jumping, holding (holding
an enemy, keeping it from moving), weapons (attacks that may be
combined with the normal close combat attack, or used to attack a
different unit), shooting (attack with weapons from a distance),
mental attacks (convert units to your side, confuse them, etc.), and
more!  These special abilities, when combined with each race's
statistics, make each race very different from each other.

After setup, each player takes their turn.  On a player's turn, they
may move their units, attack with their units, and use the unit's
special abilities.  Each unit may do these actions in any order, but
may only do them once per turn.  Once one player has captured
fortresses so that they control 12 resources (including their own
remaining fortresses' value), they are the winner!

Some comments on the game:

1).  Components:  First of all, I must stress the fact that this game
is produced by the designer.  Mr. Porazzi designed the game, promoted
it, produced it – even did the artwork!  The counters for each army
are laminated cardboard, and are of okay quality.  However, Mr.
Porazzi also sells small wooden blocks for a reasonable price.  When
these blocks are painted in the armies' colors, and the cardboard
counters are pasted onto them – they look fairly sharp.  I will admit
that this is a piece of work, but the designer recommends that you
only do it with a few armies – your favorite choices.  I'm a
completist and painted as many armies as I could, and plan to paint
all of them – but it's not necessary.  The game also comes with three
maps – two ordinary maps, as well as a large, special "Grail" map. 
These maps are laminated, and hold up well on the table.  Each of the
first thirty armies of the series has their own "home" map, and these
are available from the publisher, also.  These maps are not laminated,
and are just large sheets of paper, but are easily laminated, and hold
up well.  The same cannot be said for the box, however, which is a
thin, cheaply made box.  Once the armies are mounted, they don't fit
in it.  I keep all mine in one of my game drawers, and if I transport
the game, just take the armies with me that I'm going to use.  The
shield counters flipped for attacks and special abilities are a good
method to use, but it felt a little unwieldy to use.  We love dice, so
we just rolled a die for each shield, using a 1-3 as a miss, and a 4-6
as a hit.  The components for this game aren't the best, but they are
good for being self-produced.  The game is good enough that I hope
that it's picked up by a bigger company and produced with higher
quality components.  But even so, I'm very proud of my armies and
maps, and am eager to show off the game to people.

2).  Artwork:  And one of the main reasons for this is the artwork of
the game.  Very few designers are their own artists, and very few game
artists are as good as Mr. Porazzi.  The artwork on all the counters
is very good, and – for having 450 different images in the game, very
easily distinguishable.  But the most incredible artwork in the game
is on the army sheets and the maps.  The army sheets each boast a
nice, fantasy style picture of that army in fighting action.  The maps
are incredibly beautiful – I'm trying to think of ways to use them in
other games – they look that good.

3).  Rules:  The designer not only did everything else with the game,
he did his own translation work, also.  Therefore, the translations
into English are not that great.  I was able to read the rules without
any problems, but they were a little "clunky" in places.  However, I
know for a certainty that they are being rewritten by a native
American, so future editions should be much easier to read.  The
website, http://www.warangel.it, also has a host of information, but
is mostly in Italian, with only parts translated into English.  The
rules are somewhat lengthy, but are easy to teach and learn, with many
examples. The game is a light tactical game, and doesn't present too
many decisions.  However, there is enough for players to decide. 
Should a player block certain blue holes, preventing the enemy coming
in from that side?  How many units should defend, and how many should
attack?  Which fortress should a player head for, and with which
units?  How best can the special abilities of an army be utilized?

4).  Game play:  I was very pleased with how easy the game played. 
After reading all the special abilities (there are about 30), I
thought the game might become complicated.  However, each individual
army only has a few different special abilities.  Some armies may seem
weaker or stronger than others, but they have more subtle abilities. 
Overall, they seem extremely well balanced.  The time for the game
isn't too long, and seems to run a little over 90 minutes for a
two-player game.  I think the game plays better with only two players,
unless the other players play on teams.  Even then, it would certainly
drag out the time involved.

5).  Availability:  While it's hard to get a hold of the game, it's
easy to get in touch with the game designer.  Mr. Porazzi was
incredibly helpful, and was very easy to deal with via email.  I
received the game quickly and with little trouble.  Hopefully, if
there is enough demand for the game, it will become easier to procure
in America.

6).  Variety:  The biggest thing in favor of Warangel is its variety. 
With only the first ten armies provided in the basic set, there are 90
different match-ups available.  If you use all 40 armies that are
currently available in English, you can have up to 156,000 different
match-ups.  That's a LOT for a war game.  You could never play the
same game twice – and every army is fun to play.  All the different
maps, the different units, and the different special abilities create
a unique experience each time one plays.

7).  Fun Factor:  Warangel is brimming with fantasy theme.  The armies
all have a unique flavor, and their special abilities act that flavor.
 It's a lot of fun to use flying creatures to pick up other creatures
and drop them into volcanoes.  It's fun to drag other units into
chasms and let them fall to their deaths.  It's great fun to see a
tiger attack a mermaid, a mammoth attack a giant spider, a knight
fight a barbarian, and a penguin attack a T-rex.  There are shades of
Kings and Things in this game, and it's certainly fun to play.   A
good background story is also written for each army, and contributes
to the overall theme and fun.  The flipping of the shields adds a lot
of luck to the game, but the luck seems to even out with good tactics.

So I have to highly recommend Warangel.  If you like fantasy games
full of theme, light war games with plenty of variety, great artwork
and fun, fast play – then this is a good game to pick up.  The
components could be a little better, but I think overall the game is a
blast to play.  If you get the chance to play or buy Warangel, give it
a shot – you may really enjoy yourself!  Now excuse me while I go lead
my army of dinosaurs against the evil pigs!

Tom Vasel
for more reviews, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/koreaboardgames