Not everyone at a gaming table will feel the same about every game that is pulled off the shelves.

Even at our small table the four of us have some rather lengthy discussions over the merits of certain games.

Covil: The Dark Overlords by designer Luís Brüeh was certainly one of those.

Covil is a game that is just a bit hard to arrive at a final viewpoint.

To begin with the art here, also by Brüeh, will either entice your interest, or be a bit of a deterrent. When the game was originally launched on Kickstarter it was stated; "The game is a tribute to awesome 70's, 80's & 90's cartoons, filled with references to our favorite and unforgettable characters."

In the base came and add-ons there are for example homages to Leela from Futurama, The Brain from Pinky and the Brain, and ALF among others.

The cartoon inspired art is sort of cute, but didn't exactly win me over, although others at the table were satisfied.

The Kickstarter campaign also noted; "In Covil: The Dark Overlords you will struggle for the supremacy of the regions surrounding an isolated town. Each player controls a Dark Overlord with unique powers and countless minions to "defend the world from enemy hordes" and bring "peace and security to the territories" — at a cost, of course!"

The game, published by Canadian publisher Vesuvius Media comes across as a bit grander than it actually is.

This is a fairly light worker placement/area control game, which players put over four segmented rounds.

In the opening couple of rounds you have fewer minions to send out across the realms, and that limits what you can actually do. It is generally a build-up of forces that players generally must follow for fear of being under-manned in later rounds.

In the last couple of rounds you have more options, battling other players, hording gold as such fun things, although there are limitations. The game allows a rather small treasury so players are always making rather frugal decisions.

The interesting aspect of this game is that various character cards have abilities which create synergies with certain attack styles, melee, or ranged, and with different terrains on the board. This means there is a learning curve. Some time spent with the cards outside of a game situation getting a grasp on what cards to go after to be able to chain effects will add to the game experience.

A pair of small expansions; The Outposts and Chaotic Evil, expand on things, and while some games only gain variety with added cards and options, with Covil it adds some interest by expanding the decisions. The chance to add fortresses, and dragons to the troops is great, and sinister plots give each player hidden goals to go after, another bonus in play.

I rather liked the game at the basic level, more so than my gaming comrades, but with game time, and the expansions this is likely to satisfy most games in for some quick fun.

Thanks to fellow gamers Jeff Chasse, Trevor Lyons and Adam Daniels for their help in running through this game for review.

Button Men has been around for a while now. Debuting back in 1999 when the characters were actually on pin-backed buttons, which was a rather cool idea.

You wore your button, and others, during game conventions and the like, wore theirs. Players would meet up and start rolling dice in a game based on the 'button men's' stats.

In brief, "Button Men is a dice game about fighting. Each fighter is represented by a set of dice, and players take turns capturing each other's dice. It's a compact game that only takes about 10-minutes," details the ruleset.

The game was popular, and won the Origins Award for Best Abstract Board Game and Best Graphics Presentation of a Board Game.

"Over the years there have been several expansions to the game, from Cheapass Games and many licensees. There are more than 300 characters in the game, with new ones being added all the time."

Fast forward to 2017 and the game has been re-released sans buttons, with the characters now on cards. The game lost a touch of its character with the switchover, but there is a cost-saving to production I am sure.

The game setting is now one centered on gangsters.

"Selaria, better known as Fight City, is a lawless town on America's Gulf Coast. The year is 1952, and Fight City is in the middle of a never-ending crime war," details the rules sheet.

"Fight City was founded in 1788, by shipwright Selaris Kronauer, and it has always been a strange world unto itself. The city sits at the mouth of the Lawaree River, between Alabama and Mississippi. Fight City is a haven for crime, double-dealing, and shady characters from all walks of life.

"Needless to say, everyone in this city has a good reason to pick a fight with just about everyone else."

Of course the background doesn't influence game play, but it is a nice add-on in terms of flavour.

Button Men, does remain a strategy dice game. It was designed by James Ernest.

The new 'starter set' contains 48 characters and enough dice to play. The suggestion it is a starter hints at expansions to come, which is not surprising given the number of characters in the earlier button run.

While this is basically players rolling a handful of dice, D4s through to D20s, and comparing numbers, there are some nice options to play as well.

For example, poison dice are worth negative points. If you keep one of your own poison dice, subtract its full size from your score. If you capture an opponent's poison die, subtract half its size.

Poison dice can often be the deciding factor in a game, and they do influence play when used.

Shadow dice are another option. They cannot make power attacks. Instead, they make shadow attacks, which works slightly differently: use one of your shadow dice to capture one enemy die. "The captured die must show a number greater than or equal to the attacking die, but not greater than the attacker's size," states the rules.

And there is a rush attack: "use one of your rush dice to capture two of your opponent's dice. The numbers on the target dice must add up exactly to the number on the attacking die...

"Rush dice also have a weakness. They can be captured in a rush attack by any type of die."

The game could benefit with some alternate coloured dice to easily designate the specialty dice, although most gamers have tons of dice on-hand.

You will have to play with the specialty dice because they add some nice strategy to an otherwise rather boring dice rolling contest. With the special dice the game is well worthy of exploring.

It is very hard to beat an abstract strategy game that has wood pieces and a wooden board as well. Aesthetically, it is the epitome of beautiful for me in terms of board games.

So when I first laid hands on Dikarya from designer and craftsman Nick Ryan I was immediately smiling.
Of course, good looks only go so far.

A game should be fun to play, and in the case of an abstract strategy game, it should be challenging as well. Perfect information games, in particular two-player games of the genre, should make you think as you play.

In the case of Dikarya I was first aware the game was very much a tweaked version of a much older game, so thanks to email, I asked Ryan about this game's specific origins.

"Dikarya is basically latrunculi which is an ancient Roman game," he explained via return email.

For those not familiar latrunculi, www.boardgamegeek.com gives a quick history; "roughly translated as 'Robbers', this abstract battle game was known to be played by the Romans, and versions of the same game may well have been played before by the Ancient Greeks and Egyptians, and afterwards by the Persians. Games archaeologists and historians disagree hotly about just about every aspect of this game: board size, number and distribution of playing pieces, use of a king piece, age, priority, etc, etc; the list goes on. However, there is evidence that the game existed, both in literature and in archaeological finds."

It was this ancient game from which Dikarya was born.

"I was searching for whole sale wooden pieces to purchase to produce my own Latrunculi game (idyllwild games.com)," said Ryan. "I had a hard time finding the right pieces but did come across little mushroom shaped wooden knobs, it sparked the idea of 'Hey, I could make a mushroom themed Latrunculi!'(Dikarya is a subkingdom of fungi). Then I was thinking about the fungus theme and thought little spores would be a cool idea and would make the game unique."

So how exactly does Dikarya play?

Each player places their 12 Soldiers along one side of the board and places their King on the row forward, four spaces from the right. Each player receives 3 Spores each, and are placed in the circles on their side of the board.

All pieces may move any number of spaces in the horizontal or vertical direction, except a placed Spore piece.

A single Soldier is captured if it is surrounded on two opposite sides. If a Soldier is "captured" remove it from the board.
Multiple Soldiers can be captured along a line.

Up to this point the game mimics what many think the ancient game played like.

As Ryan noted the 'spores' add a new twist.

When an enemy Soldier is captured, the capturing player may place one of their Spores in the captured Soldier's place.
When a Spore is placed, it becomes a "blockade" and cannot be moved for the remainder of the game.

A Spore placed on the field may be used – by either player – to capture another enemy Soldier(s).

The spores are an interesting addition to game play, adding a level of strategy regarding when to place them, and recognizing how that placement will affect the game moving forward.

Ryan said he developed the game because he likes the genre to start with.

"I love chess but when I played Latrunculi, I really loved the simple 'back to basics' game play," he said. "It's easy to teach newcomers. And if you like chess, Dikarya / Latrunculi is fresh, yet similar feeling."

So are there tricks to being good at Dikarya.

"My wife is actually better than I am," offered Ryan. "I would say stay focused and don't be too aggressive. Also moving a piece to a square that is diagonal of an enemy piece is usually a good move."

You will want to note the suggestion because this is a beautifully made game that really should be on a gamer's want list.
Check it out at the above mentioned website.

Thanks to fellow gamer Adam Daniels for his help in running through this game for review.

Every once in a while you lay your hands on a game not exactly expecting too much from it, and it simply blows your socks off.

Pairs, by designers James Ernest and Paul Peterson, is just such a game.

Pairs is a card game, so the package is small, and unassuming, which I suppose is a large part of why not a lot was expected as the cellophane was tore off.

But this is not an ordinary card deck like the one used for cribbage and rummy.
Instead it uses what the ruleset terms a 'triangular' deck. The deck contains the numbers 1 through 10, with 1x1, 2x2, 3x3, and so on.

So like a standard deck of cards you can play many different games with your Pairs deck. There are actually a couple of dozen games created for a Pairs deck,
available for free download at www.playpairs.com, but for today I will focus on the core game and a couple of its variants.

So in the primary Pairs game there is no winner, just one loser.

"In each round, players will take turns drawing cards, until one person either folds or gets a pair. Either of these scores points and points are bad. The first player with too many points loses," explains the ruleset.

Pairs is called a pub game, and that is where the idea of the single loser comes into play. If you like, you can choose a penalty for the loser. The loser could tell a joke, buy a round of drinks, make a funny noise, or whatever is appropriate for your group, explains the rules.

The rules are very simple for the basic game.

"On your turn you have two choices: You may hit (take a card), or fold. If you catch a pair, or fold, the round is over and you score points. If not, play passes to the left.

"When you hit, you're hoping not to get a pair (any two cards of the same rank). If you pair up, you score that many points. For example, if you catch a pair of 8's, you score 8 points. Keep those cards, face-up, to track your score."

You play until someone hits the predetermined point threshold, 16 in a four-player game as an example, and they are the loser.

The game plays quickly, is ridiculously simple, and yet the urge to play another round is frightfully addictive. One game is never enough, and while this is an ideal filler game, it can chew through an hour of gaming time very easily.

And then there are the variants.

"Continuous Pairs is nearly the same as basic Pairs, except that when a player pairs up or folds, only that player's cards are discarded. Everyone else keeps their cards, and that player is still in, currently, with an empty stack. This game is basically one long round, instead of several short ones," explains the ruleset.

This is certainly our favoured way to play the game as it keeps things flowing without tossing cards every time someone scores a point.

There are also a number of poker-inspired variations, all which has the loser of a round paying chips to other players, which then sets up for an actual winner based on the largest stack of chips.

Another little twist is the game 'Calamities'.

In the Calamities variant, the 7's are bad luck or 'calamities'.

The core element here is that if you are dealt a 7, the turn stays on you.

In Continuous Pairs, as an example, this is true even when the 7 gives you a pair, so you will discard your cards and immediately receive another card.

And finally we get to Pieces of Eight.

In this variant, 8's are special. If you have an 8, you have a third option, which is to discard the 8 and take two cards.

"Two cards might seem riskier than one, but at least you get rid of an 8," notes the ruleset.

Is this a great game in the same realm as chess or dominion? No, but that said in the realm of simple fun it ranks very high. This is a game that will see your table often, and for longer than you think when you first grab the deck. A definite must have game.

Thanks to fellow gamers Jeff Chasse, Trevor Lyons and Adam Daniels for their help in running through this game for review.

Some games head into new areas in terms of mechanics and even in terms of the player niche they hope to attract.

Expedition: The Roleplaying Card Game from designers Scott Martin (III), and Todd Medema head into new territory on both counts.

I have been in role playing games for 25-plus years, but a different way. Gone are thick play handbooks, and pages of player character stat sheets.

To get away from all the paper Expedition relies on two things, cards, and an app for your cellphone, although the latter is not strictly required.

"The Expedition app includes choose-your-own-adventure quests, with more being written by the community every day," explains the rules. "Quests start with player's roleplaying as characters exploring the world, interacting with the environment and making decisions about how to proceed. Each quest has its own objectives and goals.

"Sometimes, you will engage in combat. During each round of combat, players have a limited amount of time to use abilities to defeat their enemies (represented by encounter cards), or accomplish their goal (presented by the app). If you take too long, enemies will deal additional damage. Your party will deal more damage with a diverse set of skills and by coordinating during combat. You are defeated if all players reach zero health."

Now this game falls into an interesting niche for me. I rather enjoyed the simplicity of a quick dungeon crawl, although I suspect many seasoned RPGers will see Expedition as a bit thin in terms of roleplaying and balk at it a bit.

On the other hand the game is an easily learned entry point to what the flavour of an RPG is, so you may well entice non-role players to give this a whirl, where they would resist a full-blown RPG.

Co-creator Todd Medema said creating a sort of filler game for RPGers was one of the driving forces with Expedition.

"We started working on Expedition several years ago, when our D&D (Dungeons & Dragons), DM, (dungeon master) said that he no longer had time to run a campaign. He was spending hours a week preparing, and we were spending hours per week to play - often only getting through a fight or two in an entire evening given how slow D&D combat is," he said in an interview via email. "So when he dropped out, we had some extra time on our hands to think about how you could speed up - perhaps even improve - the D&D roleplaying experience. We knew that we wanted to incorporate technology, but that we still wanted the social aspect of board games. After many experiments with different formats and technologies, we settled on the cards-plus app combination. The rest, as they say, is history."

But, the game also has the feel of an entry game for non-role players to try an RPG-esque game.

"Our original designs had been focused purely on speeding up the roleplaying experience, but we quickly discovered through playtests that fewer rules also meant it was easier to learn and less intimidating - opening up the fun of roleplaying to entire groups that had never played RPGs before," said Medema. "We're thrilled that such a large portion of our player base use Expedition to introduce their friends and family to the creativity and storytelling of the genre - from parents introducing their kids, to couples introducing their better halves, to friends bringing it on camping trips."

So what does Medema, as one of the game's creators, think is its best aspect?

"I've seen so many good board games and RPG concepts ruined by too many rules - games that would have been amazing to play for an hour, but are so bogged down by thick rulebooks that they take two, three or even four hours," he said. "The best aspect of Expedition in my mind is that it's designed with the roleplaying and storytelling experience first, and we mercilessly removed rules that we felt didn't contribute to that.

"For example, 'equipment' is a common trope in RPGs, where throughout your adventure you acquire more and more powerful gear. But here's the thing - you still want to challenge the players, so you have to make the enemies get more powerful too. So you end up running in circles making numbers bigger without actually contributing to the story - so we got rid of that.

"That move has been controversial with some players, especially those who are used to more traditional RPGs - but it worked. Nobody complains about Expedition being too slow."

But what about the use of apps when many like to board game to get away from tech for a bit?

"When we first started working on the idea years ago, there was a lot of resistance," admitted Medema. "We were one of the first board games to do it, and people – rightfully -- didn't trust it.

"So, we've spent a tremendous amount of time addressing their concerns - making sure the app is available on as many platforms as possible (Android, iOS, mobile web and desktop web), making the app and its underlying code fully open source, and continuing to invest in and support the app for many years. We even made a lightweight set of offline rules to bolster confidence in the system further.

"This, and the fact that more and more board games are exploring this hybrid digital / physical space means that we've seen a rapid increase in player acceptance."

The incorporation of an online aspect has allowed players around the world to write and publish adventures for Expedition, which certainly adds a different element to the game in terms of community creation.
"We're so grateful to all of those early fans who took a risk and wrote the first stories in an unproven board game," said Medema. "Now, just two years later, we hold monthly writing contests and have over 100 quests in five languages.

"Waking up every morning to see what new things the community has created is honestly my favorite part of working on Expedition. Past writing winners have included everyone from D&D veterans to folks who've never written a story before. Expedition has truly become a gateway not just to playing roleplaying games, but to writing and interactive storytelling."

So what is next for Expedition?

"Next up is a Sci-Fi expansion launching on Kickstarter on Oct 2, which adds a new character class, terrifying mechanical enemies and skills for your adventurer to learn," said Medema. "We'll also be releasing a deluxe edition of the game, which will include the base game and both expansions, superior components, and a larger box to fit whatever comes next."

This is a game that really scratches an itch for a RPGer who role plays too little these days. The online adventures are short, many are humorous, the action is fast, and the experience generally satisfying.

For a small box of cards there is a lot to be liked here, check it out at www.expeditiongame.com

Thanks to fellow gamers Jeff Chasse, Trevor Lyons and Adam Daniels for their help in running through this game for review.

Xenofera was one of those most pleasant surprises that sometimes happen when you break the seal on a board game.

The art of the box top was a bit 'young-looking', that is to say it made one think the game might have been geared specifically to younger children, so it was unclear exactly what the game might play like for adults.

The game, created by Liz Gattra and Jeff Porter from Puff Duck Games, plays two to five players.

But, the theme sounded fun at least.

"Once a decade the Royal Society of Xenofera Hunstmen sponsors the Great Galactic Hunt," detailed fluff in the rulebook. "Members, representing the various Royal Families, compete to gather the most magnificent collections of Xenofera, alien creatures, from across the galaxy. Creatures are given points based on their appeal with bonus points awarded for specific collections of creatures. The member with the most appealing collection at the end of the hunt is the winner. Members, being Royals, rarely participate in the hunts themselves. Instead, they hire the most experienced huntsmen from throughout the galaxy to lead their expeditions.

"You have been hired by one of the Royal Families to represent them in this decade's hunt. They have supplied you with a ship, but you will need to recruit your own crew and build your own cages before you can capture the creatures. While you'll want to capture the most appealing creatures you can, your Royal Family has requested try and capture a specific collection of creatures they feel will give them an edge during the final tally."

And that is where gameplay focuses.

"You will be competing for crew, cages and creatures against some of the greatest huntsmen in the galaxy," continued the rules fluff. "And no huntsman is above stealing from or sabotaging another's expedition. You will need to be vigilant and cunning if you are to capture the best collection and prove that you are the Greatest Huntsman in the Galaxy.

"To win, you must have the highest number of points at the end of the game. Points are gained by capturing creatures and completing special collections."

There are cards representing the alien critters you are after, and here the art takes a major leap forward compared to the box top.

Any of the creature cards would make great game posters as they are done in a pastel style, with whimsical critters ranging from the bumble bee bat to the horned mouse, the cownivore, pigasus and of course a hack-a-lope.

A cool aspect of the cards is the scientific name is included; bovivorous rex as an example being the cownivore.

The cards do have a lot of icons which initially looked like a bit much, but they are well-designed and very quickly understood in terms of game play.

So you build cages, add crew and capture strange animals, and at the end of the games each player calculates their score by adding the total values of all the creatures in their cargo bay to the total bonus points for any collections successfully completed (goals within the game), minus any crew member costs for crew members in their crew quarters. The winner is the player with the highest score. In case of a tie, the winner is the player who captured the most creatures.

In the end a game with loads of charm, and smooth game play which is easy to learn and quick enough, the box suggests 60-minutes and that is pretty accurate for a four player game at least, that it's easy to recommend.

Check it out at www.xenofera.com

Thanks to fellow gamers Jeff Chasse, Trevor Lyons and Adam Daniels for their help in running through this game for review.

Oh how I wanted to love Steampunk Rally with all my heart.

"It is the turn of the 20th Century, a renaissance of steam, steel and the mysterious power of electricity," detailed the rulebook fluff. "The mad genius, Nikola Tesla, has summoned the world's greatest minds to challenge them in a no-holds barred race through the Swiss Alps. On this neutral ground, the competitors will construct, push to the breaking point, and jury-rig fantastical contraptions of their own design to crown, once and for all, the greatest Inventor of all time.

"'Race of the Century,' cry out newspapers around the world. Controversy over the results of the Swiss Rally sparks public interest in details surrounding the Inventors' rivalries. This leads to the construction of the Hoverdrome; an enormous floating stadium built with strange and futuristic technology by a mysterious private benefactor from Earhart Industries. There, the Inventors can once again test their mettle."

So I am a sucker for steampunk, and when you add the cool theme to a box top art piece showing a sort of cartoonish version of Tesla and a strange flying machine, well I was past excited to give this one my heart.

The components were solid, although I must admit plastic miniatures of the various historic inventors in the game would have added a nice touch over the cardboard standees included.

The game, which can be found at www.roxley.com, does allow up to eight to play which is a big feature for a gaming group to consider. Few games play large numbers and this one actually has more potential when more players are involved.

At its heart, Steampunk Rally is a card-drafting, dice-placement game. Players will be rolling and placing dice on their invention to generate motion, gain more dice, prevent and repair damage, and discard used dice.

Players can improve the efficiency of their contraptions by adding machine parts.

The game is played over a series of rounds until one player's weird race machine, on the board it's your inventor's standee that moves, crosses the finish line, at which point one final round is played. The player furthest past the finish line after the final round is declared the winner.

It all sounds like so much fun.

Creator Orin Bishop has almost made it work too. There is a lot going on here, dice being rolled, cards added, the potential a machine explodes with parts going every which way. It has that wild and crazy feel of movies such as Monte Carlo or Bust! or The Great Race.

But in the end a lot of the damage comes from unavoidable hazards on the board that often feel like a design cheat to harass players.

And, because there is so much going on, it ends up feeling like too much work for the amount of fun in the game.

Still, as a steampunk fan you might want to check it out, but if you are not, you might find other race games more appealing.


Thanks to fellow gamers Jeff Chasse, Trevor Lyons and Adam Daniels for their help in running through this game for review.

It was not long ago that I reviewed a game by Jon Hather, and this week we revisit the works of this fine designer with The Defence of Pictland from Gothic Green Oak.

Like Vikings vs Saxons, the game reviewed previously; The Defence of Pictland has an historical basis.

"Northumbria in the seventh century was a powerful kingdom," details the rules. "It had wealth; promoting culture, education and, through its religious houses, some of the finest art of the period. However, its aggressive foreign policy led to many battles along its borders, not least with the Picts to the north.

"The Picts were first recorded some seven hundred years earlier when the Romans attempted to expand their territory in the north. Hadrian's Wall was one attempt to defend established Roman occupied territory from the native peoples beyond. The Picts were a clan-based farming society, and though far from warlike they were well able to defend their territory. Northumbrian expansion, in a similar way to the earlier Roman aggression, saw small battles take place in often difficult terrain.

This board game sees two equally matched armies fight in a valley with a boggy bottom. Movement and capture in the bog is different to movement and capture on dry land. Such battles were typical during the period between the Northumbrians and the Picts. Eventually the Picts defended their lands well and Northumbria's power diminished, overtaken by the Mericans to the south and eventually the Vikings from the north. This is only a game but might give you a flavour of battle strategies on difficult terrain."

That Hather takes the time to tell some of the history he draws inspiration from for his games is something I very much appreciate. The brief background seems to add a level of authenticity to the feel that the game could well have been created at the time of the battle it mirrors.

In the Defence of Pictland both sides have 10 warriors symmetrically positioned at the start of the game, so is has that chess/checker 'feel' that Hather draws on in many of his games. The board, which is leather, is divided by a stretch of boggy ground, with two armies placed on dry ground on either side.

The board being divided into two terrain types, dry land and bog is really what sets Pictland apart and intrigues as a game player.

On dry ground all men move by either one or two of the 'knight's move' (think chess). The double knight's move is made up of two parts and there has to be a vacant position for the first move before the second can take place.

The ability to move twice on dry land provides pieces with a great amount of versatility, although the dry areas are limited too.

"On dry ground men are captured by replacement," details the rules. "On capturing, a man must stop if he has moved by only one knight's move and cannot go on to a second move, or a second capture. He may capture on the second knight's move so long as there was no capture on the first. Captured men are removed from the board, not to be returned."
Things change in the bog.

"On boggy ground capture is by custodial capture on two opposing orthogonal sides, that is two men either side an enemy man," notes the rules. "One or both of the capturing men can be on dry ground to capture so long as the man being captured is in the bog."

The different capture rules based on terrain are a huge part of Pictland's appeal.

A man may not move in between two enemy men in the bog (suicide), unless he is taking part in capture himself.

A man may leave the boggy ground and make a capture but is allowed only one knight's move on leaving the bog.

This is a fight to the last and the winner is the player who has captured all the opposing player's warriors.

The wooden pieces, leather board, and historical feel of this game are all major pluses, but it jumps even higher for me in terms of recommending it because of the dual movement and capture mechanics based on the two types of game board terrain. Definitely a game worthy of exploring.

Check it out at www.thehistoricgamesshop.co.uk/gothicgreenoak.html

Thanks to fellow gamer Adam Daniels for his help in running through this game for review.

It continues to amaze me how modern era game designers can still come up with ideas for games that 'feel' as though they could have been created a few centuries ago.

And the games offer mechanics which work and provide a fun gaming experience.

Which brings us to designer Jon Hather and Gothic Green Oak. Gothic Green Oak is the publisher of a number of games that truly have an old feel, sort of akin to a mix of checkers, chess, and hnefatafl, all created by Hather.

At its heart Vikings vs Saxons is a pure abstract strategy game, but one with a very specific focus.

"Several hundred years before the Norman conquest England was re-populated by the Angles and Saxons who came to the country after the Romans left in the 5th century. Their immigration was probably not entirely peaceful but, unlike the Romans before and the Normans afterwards, it was slow and not at all organized. Over many years though, the post-Roman population became one dominated by the Anglo Saxons. Then, toward the end of the 8th century, from the North, the Vikings came, initially plundering and then settling. The Vikings soon dominated the north of the country. Their threat resulted in alliances further south between different Anglo Saxon kingdoms, though heavy losses resulted in payment being made to hold off further Viking incursion. Though details are few, there were many clashes between the Saxons and the Vikings, with the Vikings remaining dominant until King Alfred's success at Ashdown in 871," explains the game ruleset, which is on two sides of an eight-by-11 sheet of paper, and that includes the game background.

"Our battle represents a small conflict at a bridge. The Saxons and Vikings are similarly armed with most fighting with axes and spears. Men with swords were few; combat was close and bloody."

From a player perspective having a bit of the history of a game, in terms of its inspiration works for me. I can understand some of the thinking that went into mechanics.

So with Vikings vs Saxons both sides have five men armed with spears, three armed with axes, and two with swords.

The aim is to capture the enemy to a point where it surrenders or is entirely defeated.

At the start of the game each side assembles their army by placing two men at a time on the board on the first two rows.

The random placement of pieces provides some tactical depth to explore, but also mimics nicely the idea of a random medieval battle. Not every soldier would march to the bridge in the same way.

As you might expect the different pieces have different movements.

Swordsmen move up to three squares orthogonally or two squares diagonally. Axe men move up to two squares orthogonally or one square diagonally. Spear bears move knight's move.

The result here is a sort of limited chess feel.

Capture is by replacement, again like chess, and is not compulsory.

If one side can capture all their opponent's men then they have won a Greater Victory.

If however, one side is reduced to a single man and can surrender by getting this man to this opponent's back row before being captured, then the winner has won a Lesser Victory only. If both sides are reduced to one man then neither side has won any sort of Victory and can decide to chase each other round the board or agree to a draw.

The standout element here, at least for me, is that the game board, made of leather which aesthetically is awesome, and the board squeezes narrower in the middle leaving the players feeling as if they are truly advancing on, and battling over a bridge.

Pieces start on sections of the board that are seven squares wide, but much of the 'battle' is contested on a three-by-three bridge. That key bridge area congests quickly and every move can be deadly.

The game pieces are simple wooden ones, but in combo with the leather board, the feeling of something old is very much reinforced.

This is a game so simple to learn, easy to take with you to a friend's, and such fun to explore it made an immediate Jon Hather fan out of me.

Thanks to fellow gamer Adam Daniels for his help in running through this game for review.

Miniature war gaming is a favourite of mine, in particular skirmish level battles.

Skirmish games are small scale affairs, rarely more than a dozen miniatures to a side, and that effectively limits to important things, the cost, and the room required.

Full army games such as Warmachine or Warhammer 40,000 can encompass dozens of miniatures, generally with a number of larger pieces, (think tanks), and cost hundreds of dollars, even thousands, to field a competitive army for large scale battles.

And the more minis, the larger the table required, along with the terrain to cover it.

So skirmish games such as MERCs and Blackwater Gulch are more accessible.

In games such as MERCs the miniatures have freedom of movement, typically limited only in distance as measured by a tape measure.

But recently a number of games have emerged where players each control a small number of miniatures, maneuvering across a board, bot so unlike chess pieces on a grid board. Such games are very easy for players to grasp in terms of movement, and are ideal as an entry game to freer form miniature game options.

One of the games played on a hexagon grid board is Aristeia from Corvus Belli, best known for its large scale battle game Infinity.

With the background of a well-defined gaming world Aristeia has a build in heritage to draw upon. The rulebook 'fluff' notes," ... 175 years into the future, humanity has reached the stars. The nations of old coalesced into federated blocs who proceeded to carve up any star systems found suitable for human habitation. Technology has advanced beyond our wildest dreams, but its benefits are still available only to those who can pay. Synthetic bodies, artificial intelligence, a data network connecting planets light-years apart, miraculous regenerative medicine ... The presence of all these technologies has enabled the creation of Aristeia, the high-stakes contact sport that's sweeping the Human Sphere.
"Tens of millions of fans keep their eyes glued to their holo-screens for the thrill that this match could be the last for their favourite fighters, some of whom enjoy an unprecedented level of celebrity adoration on Maya. Aristeia is non-stop action and top-level athleticism. Get connected and enjoy."

The idea of a battle arena watched by fans is not new reasonably starting with the gladiatorial games in the real history of our world, but it still works here.

The eight characters included in the base game of Aristeia, yes there are planned expansions, are of course colourful, larger than life, participants.

Players select a team of four, so within the eight the mix-and-match possibilities are good, and new characters will build replay-ability.

Each character as special skills, its own movement limitations, and learning how work your team to best support other characters is the fun.

Aristeia uses cards to add some randomness to things, with good moves potentially being trumped by the cards of the opponent. Randomness is not a favourite thing for me in general, but in an arena battle it helps reflect a level of mayhem.

The cards are a tad 'busy' with a lot of iconography to grasp, so there is a learning curve which will send you to the rulebook checking what things mean the first game, or two, although experienced mini gamers won't get bogged down too much. A new player though may find it a bit daunting.

"Throughout five game rounds, players direct their character's actions to meet goals of the scenario, earning victory points to win the game. The first player to collect eight victory points wins. Failing that, the player with the most victory points at the end of the fifth round wins. If there's a tie, the player with the most frag tokens wins," explains the rules, and that sums up the game, although different goal-based scenarios are part of the mix as you get into the game in more detail.

Overall, the great minis, Corvus Belli in known for that, are a definite plus.

There is definite strategic depth to explore here, and with new characters coming, mark this one as well work exploring.

Thanks to fellow gamers Jeff Chasse, Trevor Lyons and Adam Daniels for their help in running through this game for review.