As soon as I saw the first images of the cards I had to buy this game. That was about 3 days after the game was released and a week later I was enjoying this jewel.

Components
10 big Hexagonal dual side map tiles, 1 paladin miniature, 1 orc king figure, 21 orc figures with their bases, 1 paladin deck, 1 orc deck, 19 extra cards, 11 squad tokens, 5 treasure tokens and 14 wound markers.



The tiles that shape the boardgame are pretty cool, they come in hard stock coated paper that is very resistant to almost everything. The scenarios printed are caves and forests. The caves have all the mood of a "diablo" style adventure and the forests reminded me a lot the mood of "sacred".



The paladin miniature is a very well made plastic sculpture and is used to represent the elf hero that fights the hordes of orcs that threaten his land with destruction.



The orc figure is like the other orcs and many elements of the game made of stylene (pirates of the spanish main ships) but do not be fooled by it's flattness as the artwork is really beautiful and the detail prevails having on one side the front of the orc king and on the other side its back (yeap, they took the job to even deal with this detail). Within the same card are also included 5 treasures that represent elements a hero might find in a scenario that will increase his abilities during the game.



The orc clans come in several stylene cards of standard size (same size as the pirates of the spanish main cards), very detailed, also representing front and back of the beasts. In this cards are also included other elements of the game including boars that are pretty cool to play with. They assemble and work as stand up figurines with interchangeable bases that you can addapt to the needs of your game (the bases represent the clans that will be used).



And finally the characters' cards. This is the core of the game and where the most beautiful artwork exists. I cannot tell you how pleased I am with the quality of these cards. The drawings are by far better than WOW card game, full of bright colors and details. Please let me invite you to check them in the gallery because you will not be disappointed.

Gameplay

The Herocard system is common to all the Tablestar Games LLC's games. It allows you to use a deck of cards to do combat. Each hero and clan have 3 attributes (mind, body, and a special one). When you attack or defend you place a card in these attributes and wait for your opponent to do the same. In a series of rounds each spend as many cards as the attribute points allow you. The one that has done the more damage wins the round. If you are defending, your opponent must place a bigger attack number than your defense to hit you and you must do the same thing on your turn. But be careful because if you spend too many cards clouding your attributes on an attack you might not be able to defend yourself.

In this game the board game represents the area of play in which an elf hero is at war with the orc clans. The hero is pretty strong and can wipe out an entire clan if the conditions are given. But the orcs with their king are also strong enough to bleed the hero to death. On a series of scenarios each player takes a side and accomplishes a mission moving the hero or the orcs on a confrontation that will be solved by the Herocard system. Only one can win and it will be the one that can handle his/her resources in a tactical way.

Luck also has it's component as the cards are draw randomly but the game is very strategic, with each side well balanced. On a first sight the elf seems to be on disadvantage as he alone is fighting the horde of orcs but be sure he has his tricks waiting on his deck.

There is also a duel mode where you can play against another player just using the cards. Thanks to the Herocard system you can even play against heroes of other Tablestar games. So why not try a samurai vs. orc combat and see the results of this clash of eras. It will surely be fun.

Conclusion

I enjoyed this game very much, not only because of the beautiful artwork, the plastic miniature, the stylene clans, the cool treasures and the mobile board game but also for the transportability of it's components. I certainly enjoy to have a pocket board game with this quality. It is very easy to learn, has 2 expansions that add 2 more heroes with their own set of gorgeously made cards and miniature and it's all wrapped in a strong 15x22cm box. The manual is very well explained, introducing you first to the herocards system in detail and later to it's implementation into the theme. May I recommend this game to any fan of a good ORC vs ELF game, to all fantasy lovers and definitely to all those that like to have quality on their board games.



Tablestar Games, makes a stand here saying "we'll be around for a long while".

And by the way, let me tell you that I am very glad to announce that the customer service is awesome. They treat you with the highest respect, and answer any problem high speed and with EMS postal service. Understand please that I live in Argentina and in less than a week I received their mail. So buy with confidence as you will be getting an awesome game you could take anywhere you go.