Epic battles of war mages hobby world. Epic battles of battle mages: Battle on Skullfire Mountain - “Have you already figured out how you will have fun during the New Year holidays? Here is one of the options for you, the board game Epic Battles of War Mages. " What are d

Welcome to the world of mind-blowing magic! There is no place for your silly tricks, our magic is crushing, perverted and deadly! The Kingdom of Slaughter was not always like this, once this world was the most ordinary seedy village, and we led an ordinary life with these family values, morality and other garbage ... until Uncle Eddie appeared and out of boredom turned everything upside down on your head!

No one knows how he succeeded, but he filled the world with monstrous magic and many of us got access to the most destructive and terrible spells in the universe. Then my uncle arranged a tournament, but not an easy one, but to the death! Or life? In general, it is still impossible to die here anyway, the black magic of the uncle will resurrect you every time back, only so that you can die one more time. And what, you ask, is there to do here in such conditions? The answer is obvious - the destruction, burning, tearing and much more of your opponents, that is, other combat magicians! Now this is our entertainment and the meaning of life!

About the game

Epic Combat Mages: Battle on Skullfire Mountain - unique in its style card game to compose spell combinations. The game is filled with dark humor and stunning illustrations by Nick Edwards with underlined sadism and grotesque cruelty. The game is compact and easy to learn, but at the same time it will give you a lot of emotions and real fun! You have not seen such games before, that's for sure!

Destructive and disgusting spells are waiting for you, forbidden to use in the entire universe ... But not here! We do not care about bans - all we need is to turn all opponents into dust ... And if it works out, then into something worse! Death is too generous and the magicians cannot die to the end ... They are imprisoned in a place like Hell, where they will die thousands of times, only to cast spells more powerful than the one that tore them to shreds the previous time, in hope that someday it will end ...

From 2 to 6 players will be able to converge in this epic battle... The stunning design and style of the game should already show you what to expect from the game. Players will combine cards to compose deadly spells, collect powerful artifacts, and use dangerous Crazy magic. And even if you were unlucky in the round, and you died a little, then even from the other world you will be able to participate in the party, interfering with the magicians who are still alive!

Game process

Each player takes on the role of one of the mages and takes his tablet, which is needed to indicate the remaining hit points. Everyone starts with 20 points. The cards of cheerleaders, bells and whistles, parishes and crazy magic are in one deck and are thoroughly mixed. Players take turns, but draw cards and collect spells at the same time. The game consists of several games, and the game consists of different phases of the turn. Let's figure it out:

• Draw cards - at the very beginning of the turn, we always draw up to 8 cards into our hand
• We cast a spell - your spell can include from one to three cards, moreover, the cards are of three types: The ringleader, the beginning of the spell and giving a certain advantage; A twist that offers an extra pinch of uniqueness and pain, as well as the Parish - the final deadly chord of your magic. The spell can include only one card of each type, but they can be combined with each other as you like
• Casting a Spell - Your ready-to-fight spell is laid face down on the table in front of you. We are waiting for the rest of the wizards ...
• Determine the order of play - it's time to determine the order of our spells. And the first to conjure will be the wizard ... with the shortest spell! After all, this is logical, the shorter it is, the faster you will apply it! If the players have the same number of cards in the spell, then the number of Initiative on the Spell Coming card will help to decide who to go first, the player with the maximum value goes first. What if there is no Parish? Consider that your Initiative is zero ... And if this did not help to determine the move, then just roll the dice
• We reveal the spell - when the move finally reached you, it is worth turning over the cards of the prepared spell and reading the resulting name with the most epic-magical expression that you are capable of. You can even come up with a punishment for those who forget to do this and just move on to the card effects. If the spell is missing any card, then well, use your imagination and come up with a name!
• We apply all the spell effects - the card effects are applied in order, as the cards are laid out - first the Ringleader, then the Twist and then the Coming. If a card requires you to make a Mighty Roll, then you will need to roll one die for each card in a spell with this sign. In total, there are five signs, that is, schools of magic: Corruption, Darkness, Ugar, Kumar, Grass. All mages in their order apply card effects and inflict damage to each other
• The beginning of a new round, provided that at least two mages are still alive

Who has won?

The player with the most points in three games wins. Points are awarded for killing mages, as well as for the medal of an unbroken sorcerer.

All sorcerers have already received magic pendels, but are you still drawn to a magic fight? It's time to cut into a new batch - the competition for reckless lawlessness and mind-blowing fun is declared open!

Feed the creepy creatures that are breaking their chains in the catacombs of the Sprout Slaughter castle, and cast your battle spells. Furious Serpent Kurinich, indestructible Cubodemon and agile Hamadrantul will turn your enemies into a pool of hairy ectoplasm. And if you yourself played in a box instead of spells - do not wait, rather resurrect when no one is waiting, and immediately return to the grandiose outrage!

About the game

"Epic Battles of Battle Mages: Outrage at the Castle of the Sprout Slaughterhouse" is an independent continuation of the sensational and insane hit about the inhumanly cruel showdown of tough magicians. Tons of cruelty and sadism, destructive and disgusting spells, forbidden to use all over the world ... But not here! We do not care about bans, all we need is to turn all opponents into dust ... And if it works out, then into something worse! Death is too generous to us and the magicians cannot die to the end ... We are imprisoned in a place like Hell, where we will die thousands of times, only to cast spells more powerful than the one that tore us to shreds the previous time!

From 2 to 6 players will be able to face off in this epic battle. The stunning design and style of the game should already show you what to expect from the game. You have to combine cards to make deadly combinations, collect powerful artifacts, and use dangerous Crazy magic. And even if you were unlucky in the round, and you died a little, then even from the other world you will be able to participate in the party, interfering with the magicians who are still alive!

New mechanics

From the interesting and new, several chips can be distinguished:

• Critters - all parishes from this version of the game are Critters and can sometimes remain on your table from round to round. In addition to the fact that they can close you from the enemy spell, they can also have useful properties!
• Blood is a new resource that is earned by killing opponents and holding a castle. Blood, unlike other resources, goes from batch to batch. Some cards offer to donate a certain amount of liters to apply the effect
• Castle - some maps allow you to capture the Octopus Castle! At the end of the round, he brings 1 liter of blood to his owner. And the sea of ​​pathos, of course! In addition, some cards give bonuses to the owner. But no one bothers you to destroy the owner and take the castle into your own hands!
• Survivors are effects on some cards that are triggered after you die, ensuring that death was not so easy and in vain!

Game process

Each player takes on the role of one of the mages and takes his tablet, which is needed to indicate the remaining hit points. Everyone starts with 20 points. The cards of cheerleaders, bells and whistles, parishes and crazy magic are in one deck and are thoroughly mixed. Players take turns, but draw cards and collect spells at the same time. The game consists of several games, and the game consists of different phases of the turn. Let's figure it out:

1. Draw cards - at the very beginning of the turn, we always draw up to 8 cards into our hand
2. We cast a spell - your spell can include from one to three cards, and there are three types of cards: The ringleader, who starts the spell and gives a certain advantage; A twist that offers an extra pinch of uniqueness and pain, and a Coming that completes the deadly chord of your magic. The spell can include only one card of each type, but they can be combined with each other as you like
3. Casting a Spell - Your ready-to-fight spell is laid face down on the table in front of you. We are waiting for the rest of the wizards ...
4. Determine the order of play - it's time to determine the order of our spells. And the first to conjure will be the wizard ... with the shortest spell! After all, this is logical, the shorter it is, the faster you will apply it! If the players have the same number of cards in the spell, then the number of Initiative on the Spell Coming card will help to decide who to go first, the player with the maximum value goes first. What if there is no Parish? Consider that your Initiative is zero ... And if this did not help to determine the move, then just roll the dice
5. We reveal the spell - when the move finally reached you, it is worth turning over the cards of the prepared spell and reading the resulting name with the most epic-magical expression that you are capable of. You can even come up with a punishment for those who forget to do this and just move on to the card effects. If the spell is missing any card, then well, use your imagination and come up with a name!
6. We apply all the spell effects - the card effects are applied in order, as the cards are laid out - first the Ringleader, then the Twist and then the Coming. If a card requires you to make a Mighty Roll, then you will need to roll one die for each card in a spell with this sign. In total, there are five signs, that is, schools of magic: Corruption, Darkness, Ugar, Kumar, Grass. All mages in their order apply card effects and inflict damage to each other
7. The beginning of a new round, provided that at least two mages are still alive

Who has won?

The winner is the player who was the first to collect two medals of the "Undead Sorcerer". To get such a medal, you need to successfully destroy your enemies and remain the last surviving magician in this wild mess.

Features of the game

• This is a completely independent game with exciting new mechanics, which can be mixed with another set of "Epic Combat Magicians" and get pure madness on your gaming table!
• Mind-blowing and addictive battle for 2–6 sorcerers!
• Basic rules to master and endless replay value!
• Crazy combinations of 128 new spell cards and even crazier artwork! You have never seen anything like this!
• As many as 8 new sorcerers - and they have serious intentions!
• Cool innovations: terrible creatures, liters of blood, the Castle and wonderful surprises!
• A variant of the game "Short Tournament" - for those who prefer to distribute bream to enemies quickly and fervently!

Board game

Number of players
2 to 6

Party time
From 30 minutes

Difficulty of the game
Average

Epic battles of war mages - 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 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 herb 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 with the open cards of the deck.
• 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 items 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 Battle 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 Warlock 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 have dropped out of 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" each 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 company game, unlike most other patgames, allows you to plan your actions on the move forward. 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 bookshelf... Sorcerers often like to say - “ You don't come 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 anything, 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 an 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 heavy 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. Acquaintance with the board (reading the rules) was like a clear instruction on how to survive in the harsh world of 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 simply 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 who has 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 game company cheerfully reacts 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 inflict damage on 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 a battle receives a token of an 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 abbreviate 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 followed the game, but when it came out, I saw the pictures and decided that after all, this 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 collecting spells 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. This is really 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 throwing dice, people are wailing “ 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 most best spells collected from the same types. For example, if you collect 3 herbs, you get a super fucking woman. 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 mighty throw, and even then with bonuses you can get 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 do not 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 don't 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 still, 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 played on this moment, 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 are the best option... Even no, not 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 ... It is possible to play together, but 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 player. 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 it comes to you, the other player becomes the weakest, and this is a fun feature 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 gotten 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. This is a fairly simple card game with a lot of randomness, but this randomness is a tremendous pleasure (for me personally). I like collecting epic spells, I like giving 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 nauseous, then you are getting a ticket to a date with the game right now.

Hobby world 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