Game: Dragon Hordes - Warriors Expansion

Thread: Re: English rules ?

Caesar — 2008-09-04T20:36:27+00:00

Hello,
recently I've bought German Version of this game.
And I'm italian, so it's quite impossible.
English will be ok for me... did you manage to find the rules somewhere?
Please, let me know.
Thank you in advance.
Alessandro

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jsper — 2008-02-16T15:56:57+00:00

Thread: Re: Dragon Hordes Variant

riddle13 — 2008-01-04T19:14:56+00:00

here a couple of variants that might smooth your gameplay...

1) if you don't like your hand of cards at the beginning of any round, you may discard your entire hand and draw a new hand minus one card. you may do this once.

2) if a player doesn't have an attack card they may use one catapult card to launch an attack (with value 100), but they have to announce it as an attack card when the cards are first revealed. if both players are using catapult cards as attack cards, the player with the lowest amount of tribe members (total in all tribes, not counting wizards) goes first.

Thread: Dragon Hordes Variant

otha62 — 2006-03-03T03:09:02+00:00

We came up with the following Dragon Hordes variant to keep the number of attacks for each player more balanced. In most of our games, there was at least one player, some times two, that hardly got any attack cards, while one or two others got a decent amount of 'em. In one game, there were hardly any attack cards at all. Using this variant, all players have the option to attack each round.

Dragon Hordes Variant: Separate the cards to where you have two decks, an army deck (contains Nations, Wizards, Catapults, Dragons, and Flames) and an attack deck (contains Battle cards, Mercenary cards, Dragon Attack cards, and Mercenary cards with the Dragon symbol). The initial amount of cards each player receives to start the game remains the same. The variant comes in during the cards dealt before each round. With 5 or 6 players, in the first two rounds you still deal 7 cards to each player, but now you deal 5 cards to each player from the army deck and 2 cards from the attack deck. From those 7, he/she still only keeps 4 and discards 3, but this way he/she at least has the option of attacking once or twice during the round. In round 3 it would be the same, except they'd keep 5 cards instead of 4.

For 4 or less players, in the first two rounds you still deal 9 cards, but 6 will be from the army deck and 3 will be from the attack deck; each player keeps any 6 while discarding 3. In round 3, of the 10 cards each player receives, 7 would be from the army deck while 3 would be from the attack deck; each player would keep any 7 and discard the remainder.

This is the only change we made and it works fairly well for us; there's a lot less complaining about not drawing attack cards now.

I've posted a similar variant for those using just the basic Warriors set on its page.

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puppi — 2006-02-13T07:31:39+00:00

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markmist — 2006-01-20T17:55:03+00:00

from Rick Thornquist / Gamefest

Thread: English rules ?

angelo — 2006-01-14T16:22:36+00:00

Hello funny geeks,

Someone have a scan of the english rules of this expansion ? Because I have the dutch version...(I know, I'm from Belgium, but I speak french and I was really bad at school in dutch)

Thank you

Angelo

Thread: [Review] Dragon Hordes, Warriors Expansion # 1

TomVasel — 2005-09-02T23:24:30+00:00

(This review assumes that you already know how to play Warriors)

If you've read my review of Warriors, you'll know that I detest the game, because it's a mixture of random combat and random set collection which equals a random mess. I hoped that Dragon Hordes: Warriors Expansion # 1 (Face 2 Face Games, 2005 - Richard Borg and Alan Moon) would fix the problems and make the game more enjoyable. Sadly, however, the expansion, while adding some interesting elements, simply didn't do anything for the game - putting a heavy emphasis on dragons, and that's about it.

Some comments on the game…

1.) Dragons: The biggest change to the game was the addition of fifteen dragon cards, twenty flame cards, and sixteen more attack cards (eight of them dragon-only attacks, the other eight mercenary or dragon attacks). Each dragon that a player puts in their forces counts as a separate nation. Flame cards are placed with dragons and act as sort of "hit points." Dragons always roll two dice when attacking and defending, and add one to both die rolls. Dragons can attack pretty much anyone and can be attacked by anyone. When a Dragon is "hit", they lose one flame card; if they have no flame cards, the dragon is destroyed.

2.) Powerful dragons: Dragons are more powerful than anything else in the game, which is good and bad. The good outlook is that now players have something that they can attack other players' powerful armies with. The bad news (in my opinion) is that Dragons can wreak havoc and not much can stop them. I don't know what the point of setting up large, balanced armies is, when the opponent can come sweeping in with dragons, decimating your forces. Yes, most dragon attacks happen after the regular attacks, but the only reason to attack a dragon is to keep it from attacking you, which isn't much of a reason. Dragon flames aren't worth any victory points, so attacking a dragon "might" get you two victory points.

3.) Dragon points: Whoever has the most dragons at the end of the game gets twelve points. This is interesting, but usually has the effect of all players getting in a dragon race. You can try to avoid this "nuclear arms" race by not placing dragons; but there are so many in the deck, and they are so powerful I don't know how one can successfully avoid using them. In every game I've played, the player with the most dragons won the game.

4.) Catapults: Four more catapults are added in this version, and catapults can also take down dragons! However, they can only hit on a "6"; but upon hitting, they totally destroy the dragon, regardless of flames. Take a wild guess of what all the catapults in the game target? If you said dragons, you win!

5.) Attacks: One of my main complaints about Warriors was that there were very few attacks, thus rendering the main feature of the game fairly useless. Dragon Hordes fixes this to a degree, adding more attack cards. However, the new attack cards are mostly dragon attacks with some mercenary attacks, which are useless in my opinion.

6.) Focus: The main difference that Dragon Hordes adds to the game is dragons - surprising, huh? But instead of adding a major element to the game, Dragon Hordes makes dragons the focus of the game - and so much the focus that there isn't really much point to doing anything with the armies any more. Any army that looks powerful is going to be attacked by dragons - so why try? Hooray, dragons were added and overpowered everything else in the game!

7.) Players: Now that more cards are added to the game, up to six players can play the game. Also, players get more cards in a four player game - which is nicer, I'll admit, as it gives them more options. A six player game is awful, though, especially if you get no attack cards and watch as everyone uses their dragons to destroy your nations.

I don't like the basic game, and I don't like the expansion. I think they have the kernel of good ideas in them, but it isn't realized. The Dragon Horde expansion might satisfy those for whom attacking with dragons is a desired trait in game. For me, however, the game with an expansion just didn't do anything, not enough to play again. If you like the original, then you might like the expansion; but be warned, it changes the balance of power in the game (towards dragons) drastically.

Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games."
www.tomvasel.com

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Mulan — 2005-03-10T13:00:26+00:00

New cards in Dragon Hordes

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Mulan — 2005-03-10T13:00:25+00:00

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Mulan — 2005-03-10T12:59:36+00:00

Dragon of Many Flames

Thread: User Review

Mulan — 2005-03-10T01:34:23+00:00

Those who have read my review will know that I believe this expansion to be a must for this game. As an expansion, it offers a 5-6 players support and four new kinds of cards: Dragons, Flames, Dragon Attack cards and Mercenary/Dragon Attack cards.

RULES- The cards are mixed with the original set to create a huge pile of 165 cards and the rules for 5 or less players is given, but the only difference is how many cards are dealt in the beginning and in each round. The major attraction is of course the Dragons. The Dragons are place in individual columns and each Dragon is treated as an individual Nation. A Dragon can only attack with a Dragon Attack card or a Mercenary/Dragon Attack card and they may attack any Nation or Dragon (What the Dragon can attack is no where to be found in the rules, but this expansion would be very pointless if Dragons can only attack Dragons. I simply assume it is an oversight.). A Dragon always rolls two dice in either attack or defence with a bonus of +1 to EACH die rolled. In addition, Dragons can be further strengthened with Flame cards. For each die roll the Dragon lose, DISCARD a Flame cards on that Dragon. The Flame card is discarded so it will not count as any player’s VP. Only when a Dragon without a Flame loses a die will that Dragon be killed and go to the victor VP pile as a normal VP counter (2 VPs). Players are allowed to stock up on Flame cards before they have any Dragons, simply lay the flame cards face up in front of you until you get a Dragon to place them on.
There are two slight down sides with Dragons: 1. They can be attacked by any Nation, Mercenary Army, or Dragon, so they are possible targets whenever any other player lays hands on an Attack card; 2. Wizards and Dragons don’t mesh, so a Wizard is not allowed to be played on a Dragon Nation. A Catapult can target a Dragon disregarding any Flames, but a roll of 6 is required (1/6 chance) to kill it.
When the game ends, the player(s) with the largest number of Dragons standing gets 12 Vps.

GAME PARTS- Three rules in different languages. No dice. The quality is on par with the base game. There are only three new artworks: Dragon, Flame, and Dragon Attack. One minor defect that I have noticed: the card backs are of a slightly darker shade than the base set. This is not a big issue, certainly not enough to hamper game play since the cards are played faced up 90% of the time, but this is slightly disappointing.

TIME PER SESSION- Slightly increased. It is obvious that with more players the game plays longer. With the additional Attack cards, the time is also increased for the same number of players, but not too much.

LANGUAGE DEPENDENCY- Remains 100% language independent.

GAME ANALYSIS- Dragons are fierce. I have seen a Nation of 6-7 cards taken down by a single, well-Flamed, Dragon in a single Attack. In addition, the flames do not count towards VP, so an attack with a Dragon is almost always profitable. Since they are so powerful, a Dragon with some Flames becomes a big target. Catapults tend to end up targeting these behemoths more often than not. And Dragons who do not have the protection of Flames are usually a first target for a strong Cavalry Nation. Since Flames are not Attack-able, an option is to pile a few Flames before you dish out your Dragons. On the other hand, I have found that a lone Dragon can be quite a good diversion to draw attention away from my weaker Nations.

OVERALL- This is a good expansion. A must if you enjoy Warriors. It creates some more tension to game play and quite a bit of flavor to the theme. Besides, what’s a fantasy theme without dragons?

Thread: Session Report

Jimzik — 2005-02-13T23:32:03+00:00

Because Kevin got this game directly from Alan Moon himself I am able to submit the 1st session report!

This was a 6-player game and the 1st time any of us played the game.

The 1st round we all tried to build an army with races we had the most cards for. Pete locked up the DRAGONS early with 4 of the critters but not much in the way of armies. When attacking, everyone picked on the easiest targets and pretty much whittled down the 1 and 2 card armies.

On the 2nd round players reinforced their largest army and tried protecting them with Wizards. The Wizards fell to many rocks being hurled at them from catapults leaving their armies vulnerable. Mike's BARBARIANS were eliminated from the field leaving my GOBLIN army 2nd to Pete's DRAGONS. Ben fielded a mighty ELVEN army, Miss Panda had TROLLS, Kevin was right at home with his UNDEAD army while Mike was left with a couple of DRAGONS.

As the 3rd round began alliances were formed and total chaos ensued! Everyone tried putting out BARBARIANS as targets to keep their main army safe but so many catapults were on the table that everyone was vulnerable. Mike's meager armies were crushed by Kevin's cavalry. Other player's took shots with catapults eliminating all the small armies. Kevin's UNDEAD army was decimated when attacking me and finished off by me and the other players. Mike was the last to attack and wiped out my 6-strong GOBLIN army that only managed to remove all the breath's from his DRAGON. His alliance to Miss Panda was now obvious as he had no chance to win and decided to play Kingmaker. In the last attack of the game Mike decided to rub salt into my wounds and left Miss Panda and Ben alone (he likes them) to attack my lone DRAGON mano-a-mano. The dice Gods finally blessed me with a decent roll and Mike's DRAGON fell to mine, much to his chagrin (don't challenge a firefighter to a fire duel!).

Pete: DRAGON army = 12 vp's + 18 card vp's = 30 total
Ben: ELVEN army = 8 vp's + 22 card vp's = 30 total
Jimzik: 30 card vp's = 30 total
Miss Panda: TROLL army = 7 VP'S + 22 card vp's = 29 total
Kevin: 24 card vp's = 24 total
Mike: 14 card vp's = 14 total

It was a 3-way tie and the tie-breaker is who has the most Card VP's so JIMZIK WINS! How ironic that Mike's failed coup-de-grace against me gave me the victory.

This game was fast, easy to learn and another winner from Mr. Moon. I plan on buying it as soon as it's available.

p.s. I had the results spaced perfectly but it jams together when submitted.

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cbrua — 2004-06-12T02:31:56+00:00

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