Carbon monoxide in the game Epic battles of battle mages: Battle on Skullfire Mountain. Epic Battles of War Mages: Rampage at Castle Octopus Slaughterhouses Battle of War Mages

« Epic skirmishes combat magicians "- an original board game in its genre, which will not leave anyone indifferent. The game will destroy your understanding of wizards too! They will fight in fierce battles, cast cynical spells and test those playing for mental stability. If you love brain-busting board games, then meet a battle mage and collect medals from unbroken sorcerers!

Difficulty level: average

Number of players: 2-8

Develops skills: attentiveness, sociability, cunning

In terms of components, everything is like that of people

• Skullflame Mountain with two stands - 1 pc .;
• spell cards 63 * 89 mm in size - 178 pcs.;
• tablets with heroes to choose from - 8 pcs.;
• skulls needed to track life - 6 pcs.;
• tokens needed to win - 7 pcs .;
• bones - 4 pcs.;
• brochure with rules.

In the full-fledged entertainment "Epic battles of battle mages" of the next version of "Atrocities in the Castle of the Octopus," instead of Skullfire Mountain, the indestructible and inaccessible castle of the Octopus is used.

The game is insane, how is its cover?

The insanity of the board is already evident at the stage of getting acquainted with the design and rules. The style of the entertainment "Epic Battles" is very strange, the instructions are written in too cheeky language, the message of the creators is immediately felt.

The entertainment fully immerses the participants in a merciless massacre between magicians who are not afraid of anyone or anything! Do not be afraid to be killed, exterminate any opponent who gets in the way.

When you study the images on the cards, you start to doubt the adequacy of the illustrator. But given the fact that trash is the basis of a board game, one shouldn't be surprised. Who has long wanted to remove the brain? "Epic battles of war mages" will provide such emotions!

These characters make up a separate deck, which is formed at the beginning of the game. The player receives a card from this pile when his chosen character runs out of lives after the next battle. Now the participant will take cards from there at the end of each turn, which will give him an advantage at the beginning of the next battle with a hero named battle mage.

Before the first move in next game participants play dead wizard cards and discard them. They can add lives to themselves, take them away from a combat enemy, and also earn treasures.

What epic spells are there and how are they composed?

The battle mage will make magic spells from cards drawn out on his hands. Among them, there may be the following types, combining which you can get a brain explosion:

• Instigators- give some advantage when using a combat spell.


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The spell itself is assembled from one, two or three cards, without the use of cards of the same type. That is, the following combinations are possible:

• cheerleader;
• coming;
• bloat;
• cheerleader and bells and whistles;
• bells and whistles and arrival;
• cheerleader and parish;
• wound up both bells and whistles and arrival.

If the type of card does not fall into your hands, then it is replaced by "Crazy magic" when it falls out. This is a "joker" who will come to the rescue in a hopeless situation in battle magicians.

If a combination is drawn up incorrectly, the player is obliged to throw out extra cards from it so that it becomes correct. In this case, unnecessary cards are sent to the discard pile.

Magic schools

If you carefully study the cards, it is not difficult to notice that the spells belong to a certain school of magic and they are marked with a special sign. The following signs exist:

• frenzy - fervent incineration of opponents;
• darkness - dark rituals knock down rivals in batches;
• damage - only a wet place remains from enemies, assistance in dragging treasures is also provided;
• kumar - a quick enchantment that allows you to select specific victims;
• grass - gifts of nature, which heal the battle mage, and the enemies are crippled.

Yes, you just beat each other with spells throughout the game!

Initially, it may seem like this. Although in fact it is. "Epic battles of war mages" is a game of continuous trash and merciless bloodshed. Yes, the mechanics are primitively simple:

• choose which battle mage will defend your name;
• place cards, cubes and other components on the table;
• pull out eight cards into your hands, collect them a reckless spell;
• attack each other without fear of the consequences.

What are the actions?

In addition to the school of magic on the maps, the combat player will meet the target of the combat spell, damage and other effects. To calculate damage, dice are often rolled, the number depends on how often the sign of the element appears in the spell.

The target of the spell is everyone or someone specific (as an option, sitting to the right or left of the caster).

There are some effects that a Warmage can use to heal or allow him to take the top treasure card with dangerous artifacts. However, more often they still cause damage, tear off limbs, blow up the insides - something that will deprive the hero of physical health.

hidden treasures



Players meet such items from the effects of some cards with combat spells. After taking possession of the treasure, place it face up in front of you so that rivals can see it. They should never be handled.

Who will like it?

• groups of friends from 16 years old;
• those who love trashy board games that blow up consciousness;
• those who are bored with boring strategies;
• for those who are expecting a fun pastime.

Rules of the game



Some cards will require the participant to realize a mighty throw, for this you need to look at the sign. You must roll one die for each card in the spell where the same sign is placed.

Most of the cards in Epic Warmage Skirmishes are targeted at a specific victim, and this is usually indicated on the card itself. Study the texts carefully before shooting an incredible spell. The victim sometimes turns out to be accidental, sometimes it will be a battle mage sitting next to it, as well as all rivals at the same time.

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Tip: Always determine the victim before rolling the dice!

Preparation

1. Install Skullfire Mountain.
2. Carefully shuffle the cards, sort them into piles by shirts - dead sorcerers, spells, treasures.
3. Each player should choose a sorcerer whom he will fight in the party. Take the appropriate character pad.
4. Place the sorcerer's skull on the "20" mark, this is the initial number of lives. Throughout the entertainment, the slider will move if the hero loses or gains a life.
5. Place stacks of magic spells in the middle of the table, distribute the rest of the decks anywhere.

Who goes first and the order of the move?

After the players pick up the cards in their hands, the stage of determining the first move begins. Each battle mage must inform the opponents of how many cards his spell is composed of. Those players who have this number "1" go first, and the next in priority are those who have "2".

If several participants meet the above requirements, then their sequence is determined on the initiative of the arrival - participants must communicate this value to the rest, while it is not allowed to peep at the opponent's card. A battle mage who did not pay a parish or provided a Crazy Magic card in return acquires initiative “0”.

Accordingly, the participant with the greater initiative moves earlier than the others, in case of a tie, the players roll the dice, and the battle mage with a large result will go first.

How to play?

For each round of the board game "Epic Battles of War Mages" the following steps are performed:

1. A living battle mage replenishes his hand up to 8 cards, a dead one takes one dead sorcerer into his hands.
2. Lay out one to three cards face up, this will be the magic spell.
3. Determine the order of the move, as described in the paragraph above.
4. Use the effects of the spell in order "cheer + bloat + arrival".
5. After all battle mages will play their spells, the participants again pick up the components from the stack to 8 pieces.
6. A new round begins!

With each new stage, the ranks of battle mages will begin to thin out - when their life stops at cell "0", the hero leaves the battle, discarding cards and accumulated treasures, and takes a dead sorcerer from the pile.

How to win?

Winning Epic Skirmishes is easy. It is enough to earn a couple of medals of the "unfinished sorcerer" and the trick is in the bag! True, for this you will have to exterminate all rivals, turn them to ashes and survive yourself. But you can cope with such a simple task, right?

Other games in this series:

After the sensational release of the original version, the developers released a couple of full-fledged entertainment, sequels of the first version.

"Epic battles of battle mages Outrage in the castle of the Sprout Slaughterhouse"

This is not just an add-on for players over 18 years old. It's not forbidden for players to mix a base deck with this set for incredible, mind blowing spells. Cool new features stand out relative to the original version of the board:

1. All parishes here are Creatures, which can be on the table for as many rounds as you want. Also, a combat hero can be closed from an enemy spell.
2. Blood is a new game tool, it is obtained by killing opponents or holding the Octopus Slaughterhouse castle. Also, liters of blood are exchanged in the cards to use the effect.
3. Now certain cards allow the participant to capture the castle, then the battle mage will receive a litter of blood. He can earn a possession bonus.
4. There were "unexpected" - cards that will work after the death of the hero.
5. The developers of the board game have created 8 more sorcerers with serious intentions.
6. For players who do not like to stand on ceremony when fighting with enemies, a "short tournament" is provided.

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In the entertainment of the next issue - "Epic battles of battle mages" of the version "Atrocities in the Castle of the Octopus Slaughterhouse", the winner will be the player who gets two badly needed tokens earlier than others, as in other modifications. This is possible when a fighting hero has destroyed rivals and was the only survivor.

"Epic battles of war mages Mash in a mushroom swamp"

Another entertainment for those over 18 years old, where you will still have to mercilessly kill opponents. But now it can be done with the help of new powerful spells, "pump over" them with swamp sorcery. A battle mage awaits in the set.

Board game

Number of players
2 to 6

Party time
From 30 minutes

Difficulty of the game
Average

Epic Combat Mage War is an addictive board game for audiences over 18. It can be played by 2 to 6 players.

Aim in the Board Game Epic Combat of War Mages

Defeat your rivals and survive. You get 1 medal for a victory. Collect 2 medals and you are the winner in an epic battle of war mages!

Epic Battles of War Mages: The Rules of the Game

• The board game Epic Battles of War Mages has 3 decks:
  • spells
  • hidden treasures
  • dead sorcerers
• Mix each deck thoroughly.
• Each player chooses a sorcerer and takes a hero board.
• At the beginning of the game, each sorcerer has 20 lives. This means that you put the skull at 20 on your tablet.
• In the course of the game, you will earn life and die and move the skull to the appropriate divisions. But above 25 life cannot be in the game.
• Each battle has several parts. The battle lasts as long as it takes to win.
• Each sorcerer draws from the deck of spells up to 8 (inclusive) cards in his hand.
• There may be different types of cards in your hand. There are 3 types of cards in the game:
  • ringleaders - one of the strongest sorcerers gives you a certain advantage on the casting of your spell
  • parishes - the most dangerous type of cards, gives a stunning blow to your enemies
  • bells and whistles - add strength to your spells
• You can strengthen the spell from 1 to 3 cards. But no more than 1 type of card. That is, you can NOT apply 2 instigators, 2 pays, 2 bells and whistles.
• All sorcerers put their spells with enhancements on the table and tell others how many cards. The sorcerer who will walk with one card starts first. Who has 2 cards - starts second. Well, the last to go is the sorcerer with three spell cards.
• If several players have the same number of cards, then the move is determined by the arrival card. A sorcerer whose initiative is greater (see initiative on the map) moves earlier. If the sorcerers have the same initiative, then roll the die.
• The player's turn begins with the opening of the spell cards on the table. All laid out spells are read.
• All spells apply their effects in order:
  1. Ringleader
  2. Twist
  3. Coming
• The maps have signs:
  • corruption - helps to carry treasures and damage your enemies
  • darkness - massive damage, which in most cases requires self-sacrifice
  • frenzy - sets enemies on fire
  • grass - restores the strength of the sorcerer, and on the contrary, it takes away the strength of the enemies
  • kumar - an enchantment that requires you to select certain opponents
• Mighty Throw. Some cards have a mighty throw icon. This means that you roll the die based on the number of icons on the cards. For example, you have laid out 3 cards with grass, then you roll the dice 3 times and add up the rolled number. If you only have one grass card, roll the die once.
• Read the cards carefully. Some maps target specific enemies.
• Always determine the victim before rolling the dice.
• Some cards provide the ability to add a spell. This means that the previous rule cannot be applied 2 parishes, 2 bells and whistles and 2 ringleaders is canceled.
• Crazy Magic is a card that you can place in place of any other to get a 3-card flood. After you have played the Crazy Magic card, you are looking for the necessary replacement in the deck. After searching, replace the card and discard "Crazy Magic" together open cards decks.
• Treasures are items that give you pleasant effects. These cards are not taken into hand, but laid out for display by all players.
• Deck of dead sorcerers. Dying in battle does not mean that you have lost the game. At the beginning of each round of the game, a dead sorcerer takes new card dead sorcerer.
• At the beginning of each round, living sorcerers draw cards up to 8.

site - a portal of board games, in which they tried to collect the most popular board games, as well as new products from the gaming industry. The Epic Battles of War Mages Board Game page provides an overview of the game, photos, and rules. If you are interested in the "Board Game Epic Battles of War Mages", we recommend that you familiarize yourself with games in other categories with similar characteristics.

Action heroes love to choose the most dangerous places for decisive fights: the edge of a waterfall, a working factory, a sinking ship. But for the coolest wizards in the universe, this is somehow shallow. Therefore, to find out who has the most lumpy fireballs, sorcerers and necromancers prefer on the slopes of the ominous Skullfire volcano. The most terrible spells recorded in ancient tomes are used. By the way, have you ever wondered why magic books are so big and heavy? To finish off losing magicians, of course!

genre: card, patigame
Authors: Rob Henso, Corey Jones
Painter: Nick Edwards
Publisher: Cryptozoic Entertainment
Publisher in Russia: Hobby world
Number of players: 2–6
Age of players: 14 years old
Party duration: 20-40 minutes
Similar to:
series "Munchkin"
Nickelodeon cartoons

There are never enough clones of "Munchkin", thought Cryptozoic Entertainment, hired two designers of card games for Dungeons & Dragons and issued Epic Battles of Battle Mages. It was not possible to remove the king of toys from the throne, but the attempt was valid.

The striking design of the box immediately attracts attention. The illustrations on the cards are both attractive and repulsive: this is what Hieronymus Bosch's cartoons on Nickelodeon would look like. Worms, severed limbs and bloodshed are here on almost every map. Children should definitely not give this for their birthday, but adult lovers of black humor may like it. Unless, of course, they are afraid of games with a high impact of chance. It will be hot on Skullfire Mountain: the main mechanic of Epic Battles hits hapless wizards on the heads more than traps in Dungeon Raiders and oars in Overboard.

It's fun to be a dark magician. The Spell Constructor allows you to build combinations of three cards - Instigator (the great magician of the past who shares his power), Turn (additional effect) and Parish (final chord). From these three components, you can make any enchantment - to heal yourself at the right time, collect more treasures or show your friends who is the best. Some spells affect only the neighbors, the second - the strongest or weakest character, the third choose the victim at random. There are also treasure maps that add extra lethality to magic, allow you to manipulate initiative and more. To get the Unbroken Sorcerer Medal, you have to think over effective combinations on the move forward.

The power of the Ward cards depends, among other things, on the die roll. If all parts of the spell include the magic of one school, there will be as many as three (or even four) cubes, the illustrations on the cards will merge together, and the enemies will certainly not be good. There are only five schools, but it is far from always profitable to collect a "one-color" spell. For example, the shots of Drunk Walker become even more dangerous in the company of a Twist of Grass magic and a Coming from the spells of Corruption.

The game is spared from many shortcomings of the same "Munchkin". Whereas in Steve Jackson's game, the road to the tenth level was delayed by half a day, on Skullfire Mountain you need only two rounds to be the last living sorcerer. Players lagging behind the leader can close the gap in one play of cards, those who are eliminated from the race will replenish their hit points in 5-10 minutes and fight for the next Medal of the Undead Sorcerer. In addition, defeated mages each turn receive powerful spells from a separate deck that will help them in the next disassembly.

"Epic battles of battle mages" every time forced to choose between speed and lethality. The most powerful spells are distinguished by low initiative, so think what comes first: your move or meeting the gravedigger. The final moves are often very dramatic and similar to the duels in westerns. Calculation, patience and luck allow them to survive. And the winner is the one who gets the revolver first.

Outcome: this dynamic and very aggressive play for the company, unlike most other patgames, it allows you to plan your actions on the move ahead. But the controversial design and the high role of the case can scare off some of the players.

There is an established image of wizards in the world. If you are asked to introduce the wizard, then you will most likely think of Gandalf. The typical image of the magician is a gray-haired bearded man in a mantle, who holds a long wooden staff in his hand. Instead of a staff, there can also be a book with spells. A magician may have magic rings on his fingers. The magician can curb the elements. Cause rain, hail, drought. A magician can tame a dragon, a golem, and most likely he knows the language of animals. Of course, there are good and bad wizards, and not only in skill, but also in their sociotype. Good wizards love to create and help. They build cities, build bridges, pour rain on dry fields, give bread to the hungry, heal the wounded, save the army from a million arrows, stones and various misfortunes. Bad wizards are more commonly referred to as sorcerers. They destroy and spoil everything. Demolishing cities, drying up the land, turning people into frogs and stones, stealing princesses and much more.

Most often, the wizard specializes in global spells. Those. he is not very interested in mending a broken clock or hammering a nail into a wall without a hammer to hang a bookshelf. Sorcerers often like to say - “ Don't go to me here, because I know one very harmful and dangerous spell that I can use on you ...". But what can a magician do to a person? Can turn into stone, into wood, into an animal. Can make it invisible. It can freeze. But this is a magician! He can do anything. What should he mentally tear off a limb to a person? Blow it up from the inside into billions of particles? Cut in half with an invisible sword? After all, sorcerers can do everything, just writers, directors and other creative people do not want to frighten people with a dismembered woman. It is easier to turn a person into a moth than to behead him with the power of thought. So more romantic or something ...

Today we will talk about very tough battles of battle mages. In this game, all magicians fight very brutally, using the most evil and cynical spells. This game is a real test for the psyche. You are ready? Then I open the box.

Opening the skull

Although, let's hold off on removing the lid from the box for now and just look at the picture on the lid. The logo of the game is very similar to the logos of American cool programs about racing / brawl / competition. When you read the name of the game, the powerful voice of a commentator announcing some important NHL match immediately rushes through your head. " And now… EPIC SPELL WARS !!!“, And a vigorous heavy metal gash sounds.

On the box are painted wizards gathered around an artifact. The picture is pretty good, because all the art that you find on the cards will be much tougher.

We open the box. The filling is typical for a mid-weight game. When there is one deck of cards in the box, this is a lightweight game. When there are several decks, a bunch of sheets with tokens, a large playing field, then this is a heavyweight game. Epic skirmishes - this is something in between - two decks of cards, a set of D6 dice, one sheet with tokens, hero boards and two small stands.

There are quite a lot of cards in the game (190 pieces). If you put them together, you get a decent stack. The quality of the cards is typical for Hobby world (and today I am analyzing the localized version from HW).

Hero tablets are a normal life counter. All heroes are the same, no one has special properties. They differ only in name and picture.

In the box you will find a rather large cardboard Skullfire Mountain. It is for her that two stands are needed. I could not reveal the essence of this component. Apparently this is just a decorative element that makes the game more epic and spectacular.

Crazy magic

Epic skirmishes not a new game. It came out in 2012, and I kind of even followed this game for a while. Getting to know the board (reading the rules) felt like a clear instruction on how to survive in harsh world magicians. On the second page of the rules, you will find a detailed story about what "epic wizard battles" are and what they can lead to. This story is made as if the rules were talking to us. Moreover, this conversation does not take place in a pompous tone, but with the use of simple slang words. As if a friend with whom you grew up in the same residential area is talking to you. He tells you - " Friend, you just have to become a sorcerer. You can experience this adrenaline madness for yourself«.

If you agreed to play the game, then you have nowhere to go - you will have to become a fighting sorcerer. Note - a sorcerer! And they, as I wrote above, are sometimes very angry and nasty.

The goal of this game is to conquer 2 tokens of the unbroken sorcerer. To win the token, you need to be the only surviving sorcerer in one of the battles.

This game can be played from 2 to 6 players.

Several games / fights take place in one game. In each game, one surviving sorcerer remains, who receives a victory token, after which the new game with the restoration of the condition of all sorcerers and a new deal of cards.

Each individual game is split into rounds. At the beginning of each round, sorcerers collect cards from a deck of up to 8 pieces. Regardless of how much health you lost in the last round and how much damage you caused to other sorcerers, all players at the beginning of the round will have the same 8 cards.

Maps are the main engine of the game. They are all powerful spells with different effects... Spells are divided into 3 types: ringleaders, bells and whistles and parishes(cards are distinguished by a frame and a letter in the lower right corner). Splitting spells is an important game element. After the cards are dealt at the beginning of the round, players begin collecting spells. The number of cards used in the spell varies from 1 to 3. Than more cards you collect in a spell, the stronger it will turn out. One important rule to remember is that a spell should not contain two or more of the same types of cards. Ideally, you should have a spell that is a set of cheerleaders + bells and whistles + arrival.

Of course, when the cards are dealt, you may not be lucky, and you will not have some type of cards in your hand. Or it will not be profitable for you to compose a spell from three types of cards. In such cases, the spell can consist of two or even one card.

All the cards of the collected spell lie face down in front of the players, so none of the players knows what their rival sorcerers have collected. Who, then, will go first? The one with fewer cards in the spell. In case of equality, the numbers on the parish cards are compared (whoever has a higher number, he goes first).

When opening spells, you can arrange a real verbal performance - just read out loud the name of your spell. You should get something like “ Appetizing self-drink from Bukhoy Walker". If your gaming company reacts cheerfully to such things, then you can happily read out all the resulting spells. But then you will most likely get tired of doing it.

All spells work from left to right. Those. first the property of the ringleader is played out, then the bells and whistles, then the arrival. Sometimes, some cards in a spell (most often wards) require the player to make a mighty roll. For this you need cubes. It is very important for a mighty throw that your cards in a spell are of the same type. The types are spoilage, darkness, waste, kumar and grass. If the card with the mighty roll is of the corruption type, you draw one die for each corruption card in the spell. The higher the number on the dice falls, the stronger the effect of the card will be. For example, with a dropped one, you will deal 1 damage to the sorcerer, and with 10+ - 7 damage. Agree, the difference is significant. Especially if you consider that the starting value of the sorcerer's life is only 20.

Most often, the effect of cards in a spell allows you to damage all sorcerers, left or right, the weakest or the strongest. Sometimes the effects allow you to restore several points of life.

If you are unlucky and you do not get a certain type of cards in your hand, then you can replace it with Crazy Magic if you come across it. This is a joker card that allows, during the disclosure of the spell, to replace the Crazy Magic card with the first card from the deck of this type. This is a pretty cool help if you are out of luck with the distribution.

Sooner or later, the health of one of the sorcerers will drop to zero. In this case, he receives the status of a dead sorcerer. What does it mean? This means that he discards all of his cards, receives one Dead Sorcerer card, and will receive one such card each time other surviving players begin a new round. Let the name "dead sorcerer" sound somehow not very pleasant, but in fact, each such card in the next game will bring the player one good bun. For example, you can start the game with more cards in your hand, get guaranteed Crazy Magic, start the game with more health, etc. Those. it is like supporting the loser so that he can win the next battle.

Some cards allow the player to draw a treasure card. These types of cards give the player different game bonuses. For example, it gives +1 die to the mighty roll, one additional symbol of corruption, kumar, or other types, +10 to the number on the ward card to go first, and much more. Treasure is a very cool thing, you can use it to make super cool magic tricks.

The last mage who survived in the battle receives the token of the unbroken sorcerer and is one step away from victory. Next, a new game begins, which is completely identical to the first. The only difference is that dead sorcerers will give advantages to some players.

Collected 2 tokens of the unfinished sorcerer? Congratulations - you won!

I give him a pysch, he gives me a thousand!

At first sight Epic skirmishes - this is very, very correct Munchkin ... By no means do I want to say that ESBM (I will shorten the name of the game for convenience to four letters) is a copy of Steve Jackson's annoying game. The games are still different, but they have a common spirit. V Machkine you had in your hands quite funny, sometimes dastardly cards, which were most often spent on some neutral monster, and you really want to charge with a sledgehammer for another player, and not for a plutonium dragon. In ESBM there are no neutral monsters, there are only you and other players-sorcerers, which you can shoot with a fireball. And it's much more fun to do than to soak a monster in Munchkin .

In general, to be honest, I would like to start talking about the impressions of the game from its most controversial side. I would call this side the cornerstone - this is its theme and design. You can discuss the mechanics of the game for a long time, share your impressions of different tactics and strategies, but the very first thing you have to step over is the topic. The game is replete with the most real black humor. Sorcerers don't just flip fireballs with each other, and ... Let's just look at the pictures - dismemberment, trepanation, blood from the ears and eyes, intestines, total rupture of parts of the human body, etc. Fortunately, these are all pictures, not photographs (as a grindcore fan and doctor's brother, I have seen quite a few "pretty" pictures). Drawn flying guts - this, of course, softens the perception a little, but still only a little. Before buying a game, I strongly recommend that you study the pictures in my article or on other specialized sites, and if you do not feel absolutely any negative emotions from what you saw, then you can safely read the review further and find out what is good in the game. If the theme of the game shocks you, then I'm afraid that this is not your game.

As for me, I want to say that I'm not exactly puritanical, but still some of the art for the game I find disgusting. Before writing the article, I ran through various sites, looked at who wrote what about the game, and accidentally stumbled upon my comment left back in 2012. I wrote in it that I was following the game, but when it came out, I saw the pictures and decided that after all, such art was not for me, so I stopped following the game and deleted my wishlist from the list. It's very funny to read 4 years later, when the box lies right in front of me and I'm playing this game with might and main =) Despite the fact that the topic is still on the verge of good and evil (well, or it still goes into evil with one foot) , the view of the game does not cause rejection for me. I find some pictures amusing and funny. The names of the cards are pretty cool too. Of course, if you look at all the nuances that the artist painted, maybe I will find something completely unpleasant, but I looked at the cards only in the first game, in the second I already paid attention only to the text, which in the game easily fits into the framework of decency.

Do you digest pictures of furious magicians? Yes? Then we move on!

ESBM I can relate to a group of fairly simple card games in which you do not need to collect individual decks and suffer with the collection of combinations. This is, let's say, a "situational" game - you get cards in your hands and try here and now to collect something sensible from them. Those. everything is like in card games, not for geeks, but for ordinary people.

Jokingly, I call this board not one game, but two at a time. It's like it's a game within a game. The first game is to collect a spell from what came into your hand. You will almost always have something to think about when putting together powerful magic tricks. I really like that there are a lot of card options in the game. Each of the three types of cards has 20 unique ones, which are repeated exactly once. Those. 20 pieces of 2. When I was unpacking the decks and saw duplicate cards, I decided that they would often come across, but in fact nothing like that happened. At our table, we constantly gathered some new types of spells with different actions. Yes, after 3-4 games you will already know the cards almost by heart, but there is still plenty of variety, as it seems to me.

Collecting spells is quite fun because your decision depends on various factors. For example, you are trying to assemble a spell from three cards to get the best possible effect. But all three types are not always at hand, and the cards do not always interact well with each other. For example, you have a great arrival with the type of "darkness", and there is also the ringleader-darkness and bells and whistles-darkness. It seems that everything fits together perfectly, but then you read that the ringleader effect can damage you, and you have only 1 point of health left and you risk immediately dying from your own effect. Therefore, you need to come up with something else. Or you desperately need to go first, so you choose the ward with the highest number possible. Over the collection of the spell, you can really get stuck. Sometimes the optimal spell is easy to draw and you lay it out right away, and sometimes it takes 1-2 minutes to collect it.

The second game is to play a ready-made spell. It really is a game because you often have to roll the dice, the result of which can lead to unexpected consequences. It happens that you go first and during your turn manage to take out one or two opponents who instantly lose their turn and are eliminated before the end of this battle. Sometimes, for your own or someone else's move, you dial interesting maps treasures that give you special properties. In general, any casting of spells, yours or someone else's, is always unexpected and fun.

The game struck me with its recklessness. It is somewhat reminiscent of a crazy obstacle race without rules. In one round, your health can be reduced from 20 to 0. And maybe in four rounds no one can do anything to you. Actually, one more "Munchkin" legs grow from here. This game is not about strategy and tactics, this is a game about chance and luck. Yes, unsuccessful cards may come to you corny, with which it will be difficult to collect something sensible. Yes, cubes can show strictly ones. But ... But this is fun! I experienced tremendous pleasure while playing. It's actually funny when your opponent has twice as much health, and he teases that the victory is in his pocket, and then you knock him out of the game with just one or two cards. In this game, more often than ever, when the dice are thrown, “ please roll 10!". Only in this game you are constantly promised to take revenge next time.

The theme of the game is so well attached to the mechanic that the author of the game wants to shout "Bravo!" I already thought about what it would be like if the game had a different theme. For example, the battle of robots with dinosaurs or Pokemon with Teletubbies, but without blood. And I came to the conclusion that all this would be wrong. Of course, a vanilla-cute theme would expand the circle of fans of the game, but I'm not sure if it would have delayed them for long. Epic wizards with a gore component set the game apart from hundreds of others similar games... It's good that this is not just another fantasy.

What I also like is that there are many different aspects of the game that give the game a fresh look. Starting from determining the order of the move, ending with dead sorcerers and treasures. At the same time, it seemed to me that all these elements do not overload the game. For example, in the card Kneading , especially in Kneading. Munchkin , you can miss something and regret it. In ESBM, you can only forget about the property of the treasure, and I also often forgot that one card of bells and whistles is guaranteed to give the right to the first move. While playing ESBM it is difficult to forget to inflict damage on someone, because this action is always obvious. There are no sly reactions and unexpected turns played from the hand in this game. And that's a plus for me.

In my first games, for some reason I decided that the best spells come from the same types. For example, if you collect 3 herbs, you get a super fucking bang. And this idea is always not very to my liking in any board, as it makes the player very dependent on what comes into his hand. But when I played with almost all the cards in this board, I realized that 3 of the same types in a spell are good only for a powerful throw, and even then with bonuses you can have all 4 dice without matching card types. Cool spells can be made in different ways. This discovery calmed my soul and added another plus to the game =)

But enough of the pros and let's talk about the cons. They certainly are in this board too.

And I will again mention the bloody, albeit cartoonish, theme of the game. Still, in all honesty, for me it is still more a minus than a plus. Such a small minus, but still a minus. I am sure that there are people who categorically will not play ESBM. For example, on BGG, I did not find reviews of this game from very famous reviewers who always reviewed any games, and then suddenly there was silence. Although, of course, the "Christian" badge of these comrades hints that the Brawls have little chance that these reviewers will turn their attention to this game. Actually, on Tesera, I also don't see a heap of reviews on Fights, although I found it a very tasty toy for myself. But okay, this is a matter of taste, of course ...

The catastrophic failure of cards in the hand is a more obvious disadvantage, which is rare, but occurs. As I already wrote, if you have different types of cards, this is a perfectly good situation. But if you do not have a ringleader, arrival or bells and whistles, and even worse, if all 8 cards in your hand are of the same type, then this is much, much worse. The only advantage of a spell consisting of two cards is that you will most likely be the very first to play. During this turn, you can try to knock one or more players out of the game in order to take less damage later. If you survived and start a new round, then draw 2 cards up to 8 cards in your hand. And again you will not get caught the third type of cards. You will again have a spell with only two cards. In my experience, I played one whole battle like this until I finally flew out of it. The Crazy Magic card helps a lot when not coming, but you should be lucky too to get it in your hand. Such sad situations are rare, and they are the result of a badly shuffled deck. The deck, by the way, is large, during the game you will have to shuffle it more than once, so it is best to do this carefully and with the help of other players. On the other hand, the randomness of cards in hand is the scourge of all card games.

The next disadvantage is the protractedness of the games. I will tell you about the very first experience with the game, which was decomposed into 4 players. The first three battles were won by three different players. And at this stage it was fun and fun for everyone to play War Mages. In the fourth battle, everyone began to joke that now the player will definitely win without the token of the unfinished sorcerer, although three players were already one step away from victory. We've played the same game three times already, and it took us over an hour. And yes, the fourth player did indeed win the fourth battle. The fifth battle was decisive, but nevertheless, almost all the players had a feeling of being drawn out. If you think about it, it becomes obvious that the player is more likely to win the battle without a victory token. In any fight, the first step is to knock out of the game a player who already has a victory token, because if he receives a second token, he will win the game. It is better to let the player who does not have it get the token, but you still have a chance to win. Players without tokens are less affected, more often “fat” players with tokens are chosen as targets. For all 6 games that I have played so far, almost always all players had one token. 1 or 2 times the games ended in such a way that one player was left without tokens, because he was simply unlucky and he picked up fatal damage in advance. For myself, I decided that 4 players is the best option. No, not even optimal, but maximum. Five, and even more so six, I would not play this game. 3-4 players is quite good. Four players are just enough to fill up the game in one evening and leave it for tomorrow. Threesome is the minimum option to play it fun and enjoyable. Because together ... You can play together, but it's not fun, since many cards stop playing as well as the authors of the game intended. For example, there are spells that target the right and left players. In a two-player game, one person plays the role of the right and left player. Exactly the same situation with the weakest or strongest enemy, tk. it will also be the same person. And the trick of the game is to vary the goals so that they randomly switch without your knowledge. For example, you want to finish off one player, since he is the weakest, but until the move comes to you, the other player becomes the weakest, and this is a funny piece of the game that I like. In a two-player game, this chip simply stops working.

Some cards seem a little cooler than others, but this is inherent in all card games. Therefore, one whole spell can break the entire table, and another spell will only slightly pat the players on the cheeks.

Funny Easter eggs with nicknames

Well, let's summarize. After the first game I had fears that I had already received all the best from the game and that it would become sadder afterwards, but after the next games I began to think about the game even better. It's pretty simple card game, in which there is quite a lot of randomness, but this randomness gives tremendous pleasure (to me personally). I like collecting epic spells, I like handing out cuffs to opponents, I like taking them out of the game, I like hoarding cards from dead sorcerers and coming up with a plan for revenge. I don't really like the jargon of the game in the spirit of "kumar", "grass" and others, but it does not affect the gameplay in any way, but creates an atmosphere.

If you are bored Munchkin , but you want something just as vigorous (substitute and rob rivals), then be sure to try playing Epic Brawls .

For me this game is one of the best I've played this year. But at the same time, I cannot recommend it to you. It probably sounds strange, right? I usually recommend games that I really like (like Port Royal or Pandemic: Legacy ), and I am confident that this game will work in almost any company. Epic battles of war mages - the game is specific. And the most important specificity lies in its brutal theme. If you play with children, moms / dads, grandparents, pregnant women, etc., then this game is probably not for you. If the sight of the flying brains drawn doesn't make you feel sick, then you are getting a ticket to a date with the game right now.

Hobby world has already announced the release of the second part of the game this fall. And I am extremely happy with this news, because in the fall we will continue the hellish crazy bloody battle of extravagant battle mages.

I give the game "class", and you decide how strong your tabletop spirit is.

Board game Epic battles of war mages was provided for review by

"Epic battles of battle mages" - a board game for those who want to quarrel with relatives and friends, but at the same time smash them to smithereens. But it is not exactly.

To say that I am a newcomer to the world of board games is to say nothing. From the board, I only played a couple of mandatory numbers like Bang! and Uno, yes. What attracted me to the game? Only the pictures on the box " Epic battles of battle mages. Outrage at the Castle of the Butterbone Slaughterhouse!”Have already sparked my interest, because they remind me of the well-known and beloved“ Adventure Time ”. To add variety to my measured family life, I forced a young man to play for a couple, who also can only boast of playing Uno and Monopoly. And, suddenly, we really liked it!

HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN

In total, this version of the game (which, by the way, can be easily mixed with the first set of "Epic skirmishes. Battle on Skullfire Mountain") 8 hero boards. Separately, my young man noted the dragon lord - Sun Huchai, and I chose the fluffy wizard - Sir Kotka Murrchington. Yes, this game is strictly 18+, so if you are under, stop reading this immediately and forget everything! Better yet, go to another city!

In general, you choose for yourself the one that sounds nicer, but you dump all the cards of "cheers", "bells and whistles" and "parishes" together. With their help, you can create magic. Each card is also tied to a specific school of magic, which helps to create even more powerful combinations.

Ideally, you need to combine three cards together and read them in a special way - then we will be the biggest "bang!", But the player with fewer cards will be able to move first. In this case, magicians prepare spells secretly from each other, and then reveal themselves. It is not for nothing that the game also has "crazy magic" cards - to replace one of them with a card that you lack for an ultra-wild spell. When you lay out such a card, you boldly reach for the deck with spells and open them until you meet that one - i.e. a card of the type that was replaced by "crazy magic".

There is also "treasure" - a vigorous thing that comes to you from the effects of some spell cards. When a treasure falls into your claws, it is imperative that you open it for all players to salivate everyone. Treasures are never picked up. And, of course, they can be won back by greedy sorceresses, so keep your ears open.

Of course, death is not complete here, but if dear friends have flunked your sorcerer, this does not mean that you drop out and go to smoke on the balcony. When the sorcerer has played in the box, he discards cards from his hand, then treasures, and then takes a card from the deck of dead sorcerers. In this game, death is not yet a reason to end it.

Where can a magician be without a castle! There are cards that give additional bonuses to the one who conquered the castle. And also the castle itself brings a liter of blood, which you so need to enhance the effects of spells.

The surprises. Yes, yes, where without such cards. This is what you do before you emit ... No, you didn't think so! Let go of the spirit. If among the cards of your spell cards that you did not manage to use before death, there is the word "unexpected", then you apply the effect described after that word. Thanks to such "surprise", even the most wretched sorceress will be avenged.

THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF GAME - TOURNAMENT AND SHORT TOURNAMENT

The tournament is a long, epic battle. At the end of each game, the Survivor receives the "Undefeated Sorcerer" medal. Having collected two such medals, the sorcerer wins the tournament. This, however, can take a long time.

A short tournament is an alternative version of the game, which is played for a company of 5-6 players. It consists of three games, and instead of medals of the "unfinished sorcerer" players receive points for killed enemies and their own coolness. After the end of the games, the points are compared, and the sorcerer with the highest score wins.

IMPRESSIONS

First, no matter how awesome your strategy is, no matter how quickly and tenaciously you capture the castle, no matter how ingenious your plan is, the next move may be your last. But even here the game does not end, because you get a card of a dead magician, and you continue to get lost. Secondly, the names of the characters, they are really funny. Third, the spells you cast. Seriously, when else will you get a chance to cast the Feihan Witch Doctor from the Furious Shkolotron? Fourth, the atmosphere is epic. Incredible epic! Fifth, however, the game can drag on, especially if there are more than three players.

It doesn't matter how bad or how good you are at playing board games - detailed instructions and lively interest will help you quickly figure out all the subtleties and fall in love with the game.

The essence of all this mayhem is to turn enemies into pools of slime (or worse) as often as possible and find out who is the coolest.

BEWARE, POSSIBLE ABDOMINAL PAIN FROM LAUGHTER! LONG PLAY IS ADDICTIVE !!!

In general, we have warned. We express our deep gratitude to Hobby World for providing us with a box of happiness for review!