I got my copy of Nexus Ops today and it went straight on the table this evening. We played a two player game, where I was the one that had studied the rules and explained them quickly to my opponent. From previous games, I know that this particular player's mind can wander during boring explanations, so I tried to keep it short. I only explained the very basics and this worked very well indeed. It is of course the game's merit that its mechanics are easy to explain.

Based on this one play, and the time I spent punching out the components and reading the rules, I present my review of Nexus Ops.

PRE-GAME

When you open the Nexus Ops box, the first thing that catches the eye is the heap of semi fluorescent miniatures. Pictures here on the geek gave me a wrong impression on the size of these things. The miniatures are much smaller than you would expect. Nevertheless, they are easy enough to distinguish, so no complaints there.

Furthermore, there are some dice, a number of mission cards, energize "bonus" cards and cardboard tokens for unexplored areas, for mines and for currency. The playing board is created by randomly laying out tiles. The quality of the cardboard and cards is decent, but I find that it is a little thin. Particularly for the tiles that make up the battleground I would have preferred a bit thicker stock (I had the same experience with RoboRally, also published by Avalon Hill.)

One component disappoints though. The monolith is a tower like structure and forms the center of the battlefield. It is made of a very thin cardboard (more like thick paper) and I already foresee it deforming. The monolith can block the view to what's happening at the other side from the player.

Also, I can confirm the rumors of the strange smell that some of the components carry and I believe that either the cards or the cardboard pieces are the main offenders.

I especially want to mention the rulebook. The rules are presented clearly with enough examples backing them up. Most of all, I liked the layout of the booklet. The visual presentation is one I am not used to seeing, and it works very well with the weight of this game.

GAME ON!

A strong point of Nexus Ops is that the game can be set up in mere minutes. Randomizing the board goes quickly and when you throw all players a baggie with their colour miniatures and give them a reference sheet, you are good to go. After just a few turns, the game evolves in a struggle for currency with which new units can be purchased. Those units will fight battles that accomplish (secret) missions and result in victory points. The first player to reach 12 VPs wins the game.

In interesting mechanic is the way battles are fought. Players simultaneously throw dice for each unit type that is involved in the battle, with the strongest going first. Each successful roll implies a casualty, and the player that receives the casualty decided which unit is destroyed. This has a number of obvious implications. First of all, one could choose to remove a stronger unit that already attacked in this battle, in favor of a weaker unit that can still do damage. It also means that's usually a good idea to protect your more expensive units by grouping them up with canon fodder. In my opinion, this means that, generally, bigger groups of units are better, as you don't necessarily need the most expensive unit type. An attacker can only cause as many casualties as the size of his group.

When your group is completely defeated by an attacker, you are allowed to draw an energize card. These cards contain bonuses that can be played during battles and some during the other phases of a turn. By awarding the losing player these bonuses, they become stronger in the next fight. It is a good way to keep people in the game. Greedy attackers should also be careful. It's not a good idea to conquer useless territories and allow the other player to draw more of these cards so he can use them on the fights where it actually matters.

Not all mission cards involve battle and defeating other another player's units. For instance, a number of secret mission cards ask you to control a certain type of terrain or a number of territories with the same terrain type. I like that this is included in the game. It means that players will better consider which direction to go, which territories to fight for, etc. The objective is still to get to 12 victory points faster than the opponents, it is not to destroy their units.

A minor issue my opponent and I discovered during playing. It can be hard to keep track of which units already moved this turn. It probably takes a bit of practice and paying close attention to get passed this problem. I also enjoy how a turn only takes a short time to complete. I think in games with more than two players, most of the strategizing could be done in the other players' turns, which means that downtime most likely stays short.

POST-GAME

One of the strongest points of Nexus Ops is that it is a relatively short game, while still offering a large number of tactical choices. I'm looking forward to playing this again with two and with more players.

Finally I repeat the key conclusions of this review. Nexus Ops offers decent components, however, not without leaving some room for improvement. Gameplay consists of relatively short turns in which a player mainly builds up a strong force, looks for holes in the opponents defense, and strikes at the opportune moment to claim victory points. It is a good light/medium wargame, and based on my play with two players, I rate it an 8.