RPGPundit Reviews: Wizard Kings

This is a review of Wizard Kings, a wargame by Columbia Games.  Note that this is not a review of an RPG.  Wizard Kings is a new part of the series of wargames published by Columbia; of which I've previously reviewed the absolutely brilliant games Richard III and Julius Caesar.

Wizard Kings is part of that same series. It comes in the same format, a simple box with a beautiful sleeve (in this case with some fine fantasy art), which inside contains a map (in this case, maps) in hard paper and full colour (the paper being flimsier than many game boards, but it looks durable enough, though some players might want to have it laminated), as well as some wooden blocks with stickers for the units, dice, and rules.
The rules to Wizard Kings are very similar to those of the previous games reviewed, but this game also has some significant differences.

For starters, unlike those others, Wizard Kings is a multi-player game. Whereas Richard III and Julius Caesar are 2-player games, you can play Wizard Kings with as many as 7 players. Theoretically, it can be played with as few as two, or even one player (since at least one scenario provided is for solo play).
A second significant difference is that Wizard Kings is a fantasy game, not an historical reconstruction.  While Richard III and Julius Caesar do an excellent job of reproducing the historical scenarios of the conflicts involved, Wizard Kings is set in an imaginary world.
Third, unlike the other games which are completely self-contained, Wizard Kings is a "collectible" game. You only receive 7 blocks per army (7 armies in total) in the main game; after that, you have to buy expansion sets, which bring 21 randomly-selected blocks (3 per army) in each one.
Additionally, there are expansions of additional map-sets.  There are 4 different maps included in the basic set; but there are at least 12 additional maps available.  And let me note right here: the maps are absolutely freaking beautiful.  My friend Alejo said "forget the game, look at those maps"!  They're a gamer's wet dream, you could make a gorgeous campaign setting for any RPG with those maps.

Each of these points have their advantages and their disadvantages.
The multiple-player scenario is probably the most advantageous, offering a variety of fantasy armies: Amazons, Barbarians, Dwarves, Elves, Feudals (humans), Orcs, and Undead. Each have their own interesting characteristics, which make the play experience different and unique for each one.
On the other hand, however, including 7 armies in the main book limits the size of the forces.  Having 7 little blocks is not all that appealing, really; it doesn't make you feel like you've got a mighty force at your command.

The question of collectibility factors into this.  As a rule, I despise "collectible" games.  You could say this is a personal preference, but really the issue is that to me it feels like the basic game automatically becomes less than enough by virtue of there being "expansions" available.  I should note that for the purposes of this review, I was given not only the basic set, but 12 additional maps, and two expansion boxes of 21 blocks each (meaning that I would now have a whopping 13 blocks per army instead of 7!). And I'm eternally grateful to Columbia games for their generosity and thoughtfulness. But one does also have to wonder if it isn't a case of that being more or less the minimum to get the really full experience of the game.

Finally, the "historical" issue.  Obviously, this is the most subjective preference of them all; I'm an historian, I love historical wargames, fantasy wargaming has never done as much for me.  There's actually a plethora of scenarios you can make for Wizard Kings, besides the ones presented in the rules; to many, that will be a huge advantage.  The fantasy elements may be vastly more appealing than the historical ones to many people too; I can imagine that people who find history stuffy may not have much interest in a game like Richard III and might go nuts for Wizard Kings.  But for me, it makes Wizard Kings just a very different animal than those previous games.

Rules-wise, its really not. It does have some innovations, like the maps.  If you are creating a home-brewed scenario, you choose and lay down the maps in any order you want (recommended to use one map per player participating). The maps are geomorphic, meaning that any edge of the map can connect to any edge of any other map, leading a wide variety of possible combinations.
In home-brewed scenarios, players can build an army from a budget of "gold pieces", spending a variety of points for each unit depending on which units they want and how many steps (health) they want the unit to start with.

Other elements are basically similar to the previous Columbia wargames. The blocks are "stratego-style", meaning that when the block is played it is facing you, and your opponent cannot see the unit or know its strength until they enter into combat. Units have a combat rating in the form of a letter-and-number combination, the letter indicating its initiative and the number being the number or lower on a D6 needed to score a hit.  The "steps" are health pips, you turn the unit so that its current health pips are facing up; when a unit takes damage you turn the block down to the new health level.  The health pips indicate how many dice a unit gets to roll in combat.  So for example, a unit with 3 steps of health and a combat rating of A2 would roll three dice; any die that rolls a 2 or less counts as a hit against the enemy unit.

Units have a movement rate indicated on their block; in Wizard Kings different units will be able to move at different speeds depending on their nature.  Many units also have special terrain features in their movement; normally any kind of difficult terrain requires that a unit stop moving when it reaches that terrain; but if a unit is of a type that is natural to that terrain it can move through without difficulty. Some units are also special in the sense of being "aquatics", meaning they can only function in water hexes or coastlines.  Units that are specialized for mountains, forests, desert, swamps, or cities usually obtain bonuses for combat in those hexes.

This being a fantasy game, there's also magic to consider. Spellcasters have a list of spells, the list being typically of six spells, and those spells being different for each type of army (so Dwarf Spells include things like "Avalanche" and "stonewall", while Elf Spells include things like "Lightning" and "Fly").  When a wizard block casts a spell it loses one, two, or three steps of strength (depending on how powerful the spell is).  Spellcasters cannot cast a spell that exceeds their current strength (health level) but can cast a spell that kills them. Wizards cannot fight in the regular way, but get to act before anyone else at their initiative letter. An optional rule allows spellcasters to dispel a spell cast by an enemy wizard as an interrupt action. Clerics are special kinds of spellcasters, who only have three spells: bless (which heals), curse (makes a single enemy unit miss its next combat turn), or wrath (does damage).

The game is played in a move phase, where units all move. Then combat is resolved, and finally there is a build phase, where units get "gold pieces" for the cities under their control, and can use these gp to improve the health of existing units or to create new units. Including rebuilding any unit (EXCEPT spellcasters) who have been eliminated. Gold pieces do not have to be fully spent in each turn, they can be saved up over time to construct with later, as long as one still has control of the city that has the gold.
In the standard game, victory is achieved when, at the end of any game turn, one player controls 15gp worth of cities (30gp worth if you are using a 4-map game).  For multiplayer contests, its recommended that you limit the game to ten game turns, and the player with the highest number of city GPs at the end of that period is the winner.  However, there are a number of other possible scenarios that could have other victory conditions; four sample scenarios are included in the game rules, but it is also noted in the rules that additional scenarios are available on the Wizard Kings website, and that players are invited to submit their own scenarios to the site.

On the whole, it would be hard not to like this game.  Its a great fantasy wargame, no doubt about it.  Columbia's "house rules" for this series of block wargames remain truly excellent, and the modifications they have made to suit the genre have been really well executed.  At the same time, I can see how this game would not necessarily be to the tastes of the same kind of person who loved Richard III or Julius Caesar; I'm not convinced that the audience is the same.  For me, I know that while this is clearly a good game, its not a game I will ever love as much as those other two; for the reasons I've already stated.

If you are fan of fantasy wargames, you will likely enjoy Wizard Kings immensely; its adaptability guarantees long-term enjoyment since you can vary in the armies, maps and scenarios used to create very different contests.  On the other hand, if you're a big fan of historical wargames, you may not find this game nearly as appealing (though I couldn't emphasize enough that in that case you should DEFINITELY check out Richard III and/or Julius Caesar).  If you are not a fan of collectible games, you also might find the "expansion packs" annoying.

So, not for everyone, but if you like the genre, you'll love the game.

RPGPundit

Currently Smoking: Lorenzetti Tempesta Poker + Argento's Latakia

I picked up this game 2 weeks ago.  Except mine is the 1st edition game which was only 30 dollars, and came with 2 COMPLETE armies.  (Elves and Orcs.) 28 blocks per army.

Same place had the Undead army for 13 bucks.  (Same number of pieces all fitting perfectly in its VHS tape case.)  They had most of the first map pack, but it was only 3 sheets which honestly doesn't bug me too much.

Another place had the Werebeast forces, which are a big selection of Chaos Mercenaries you can pretty much sticker any way you want ( I followed some suggestions on Boardgamegeek.) which I found sort of annoying.  

Online these army boxes usually go for 25 or so since its all compatible with 2nd edition and most of the rules are the same.  People who find out about the game really want them.

The 2nd ed added some fiddlyness with treasure and gold, plus the collectible aspect REALLY ticks people off, especially boardgamers.

That being said, the random expansion for 2nd edition is usually hard to come by, only Columbia's site and an online gameseller that wants to charge me TWELVE DOLLARS to ship 3 boosters and 3 counter trays in the same country having them.  (Fff.  Palladium is charging like 7.50 to ship their Grab Bag which is usually a good 3-5 pounds of books.)

It really does seem like a good fun game though.  I'll probably review the original edition on my blog sooner or later in my usual comic book style.  Maybe once I can get someone to play it.

In my area its a hard sell to get people to play Wings of War which is MAD fun, and even non gamers I have shown it to absolutely adore it.