Game: WrestAngel

Thread: Re: Movement card in defence?

cdunc123 — 2008-11-19T03:31:53+00:00

My understanding is that you can play a movement card against any defense, provided there is an adjacent empty space to move into. If all adjacent spaces are filled with other players, you are out of luck; players cannot move through other players.

I post some rules clarifications that might cover other questions -- see my other posting in the rules forum for WrestAngel.

Thread: Movement card in defence?

deltarn — 2008-11-17T14:52:50+00:00

Can you use green movement cards to defend against all form of attack:

- Red Power attack.
- Grey Special attack.
- Yellow Fly from the rope attack.

I suppose that in all cases the defender is moved to an adjacent empty space.

What happens if there's no empty adjacent space? is the green defence
card allowed?

Thread: Some rule clarifications

cdunc123 — 2008-08-10T07:01:20+00:00

My nephew (age 12), son (age 8), and I have a had a lot of fun playing this game over the past few days of our vacation. According to my nephew, this game is "class," which is the highest praise he gives!

After initially reading some of the rules, however, I was unclear on a few points. Some emails with the game designer, Angelo Porazzi, cleared these up. I've summarized them below:

Moving

You cannot move through another warrior; only one warrior can occupy a space at a time.

Finishing a turn

A pin attempt ends an active player’s turn, whether the attempt is successful or not. So you only get one pin attempt per turn. Note too that it’s possible for others to pin you when you are the active player—say, by charging you in the center of the ring and flying from the ropes when you step in front of them. This pin attempt ends your turn too, whether it succeeds or fails.

Otherwise, you can keep playing as long as you wish and you have cards in your hand. You can also activate both your warriors during a turn. To move both your warriors, though, you will need two movement cards—a single card cannot be shared between two warriors. Note that the rule above applies: if one of your warriors enters a pin phase, your turn is over. You cannot continue your turn with your second warrior.

Also: When you attack with a Power card and your opponent defends with a Power card, it can happen that you, the attacker, are thrown down. This does not necessarily end your turn (it is not a pin phase); if you have a Vitality card, for example, you can use it to stand your warrior up, and then you can continue your turn.

Finally: The rules don’t say whether after a pin phase finishes the active player can discard any of his cards. We play that you can.

Defensive moves

If you play a Movement card in defense, you only get to move your warrior one space, regardless of the number listed on the Movement card. Also, the other players should boo you for fleeing from a fight!

Fly from Ropes: Warriors who are on the ropes have the option of flying from the ropes at an active player who steps in the ring card in front of them. That is, you can fly from the ropes as a defensive player. If the active player moved his warrior in front of you hoping to attack you, too bad—the fly from the ropes move takes priority (since in wrestling the guy on the ropes has the advantage). The active player can attack you only if you choose not to fly from the ropes in defense with your player.

Charging: As soon as a player steps into the center of the ring the first player with a warrior on the ropes to shout “Charge!” gets to charge the player in the ring. The player in the ring need not have ended his movement in the ring; he could be just “passing through.” But once a charge is declared, play stops until the charge is resolved. This is done by both the charger and the player being charged playing a movement card; if the charging player’s movement total is higher than the movement total of the player being charged, then the charge is successful and a pin phase begins. (By the way, the requirement that the charger’s total be higher than his opponent’s total seems to be an odd exception to the more usual rule than the attacker prevails if his total is equal to or higher than his opponent’s total. Perhaps the point of this exception is to make charging riskier and hence chosen less often, so it does not slow down the game too much.)

A pin phase ends the active player’s turn, as usual, but if the charge fails to throw down the active player’s warrior in the center, then the active player can continue moving his warrior—I assume by simply continuing to use up the remaining points on the movement card that he used to enter into the center in the first place.

Another thing: the rules do not specify where a charging warrior ends up. It seems pretty clear, though, that whether the charge succeeds or fails, the charging warrior ends up in the space adjacent to the center (that is, between the ropes and the warrior being charged).

Also, it can happen that more than one defensive player shouts “Charge!”, and so more than one warrior can charge the center. According to the rules, the first to shout gets to charge. But what if it is unclear who shouted first? In that case, I would recommend that the warrior with the highest movement on his character card goes first. If those are tied, then break the tie by letting the person next in line to be the active player go first. After the first player resolves his charge, then if the active player’s warrior is still standing, other chargers have their go.

Finally, as with the fly from the ropes option, the warrior on the ropes has the advantage in charging. So for example suppose that the active player moves his warrior into the center ring intending to attack an opponent on a non-rope ring card. From behind, a warrior on the ropes shouts “Charge!” The charge is resolved first. Only if the warrior in the center is still standing after the charge does the warrior get to attack his intended opponent.

I should perhaps add that in my ten or so games all these rules regarding charging have remained hypothetical, as no charges have take n place. The main effect of the charge rule in my experience has been to lead players simply to avoid the middle. You usually have enough movement points upon playing a movement card to get to where you are going without passing through the middle. (As such, I think that when teaching people the game it would be good to leave out any mention of the charging rule until, say, the second game, by which time the newcomers will presumably have mastered the basics.)

Rules that are clear from the rule book but worth emphasizing:

Power cards do nothing in defense unless the attacker has also played a power card. If a power card is played in defense and the attacker plays a special action card (gray number) or a fly from the ropes card (yellow number), then the defensive player is automatically thrown.

When using a fly from the ropes attack, opponents will often play a movement card in defense. In that case the rules state that the attacking player should move onto the ring card previously occupied by the defensive player. (If the defensive player is thrown and pinned, though, the attacker stays where he is, that is, on the ropes.)

A couple of comments

We use a drafting method to pick teams of warriors. Choose an order of players at random. Then the first player gets first and last pick of warriors, second player gets second pick and second-to-last pick of warriors, and so on. We haven’t tried a random draw method of choosing teams, but that might be fun too. (Of course, since the warriors’ pictures appear on both front and back of cards, you would have to draw the cards from a hat, or something along those lines, to be able to choose randomly.)

The rule that you can fly from the ropes in defense leads to a somewhat unusual situation. Let’s say that in a two player game you are in a ring card trying to decide which attack to use against an opponent in front of you, a special action attack or a fly from the ropes attack. It seems best to use your special action attack. The reason is that if this attack fails, then as soon as the other player’s turn begins (and so you are in defense) you may play your fly from the ropes card against your opponent.

Thread: Re: A lot of fun in a small package: A review of “Wrestangel”

cdunc123 — 2008-07-12T18:38:52+00:00

Thank you, Angelo and Rick, for the helpful answer.

Craig

Thread: Re: A lot of fun in a small package: A review of “Wrestangel”

partino — 2008-07-12T18:24:00+00:00

Craig:

I asked Angelo Porazzi to answer your question, as he can do so far better than I can (and I see that he has).

And Angelo, as always, thanks for responding.

Best,

-Rick

Thread: Re: A lot of fun in a small package: A review of “Wrestangel”

WarAngelo — 2008-07-12T17:51:07+00:00

>Craig Duncan:
Great review. Thanks!
One quick question (I don't yet own the game): From some of the pics on BGG, I notice that a single card may have differently valued special actions -- say, a 1 and a 5.

Ciao Craig
Yes, I confirm: several warriors have two Special Actions (one has three of them).

>Why would a player ever use the lesser valued special action?

The more Special Actions you have, the more Special Actions you can play in a single turn with the same warrior
Also on different targets.
For example you can attack an adjacent warrior with a Special Action and a second adjacent warrior in the ring with your other Special Action.
For any info feel free to contact me
anporaz@libero.it
Angelo Porazzi
(Designer and Illustrator of WrestAngel)
Ciao and thanks!

Thread: Re: A lot of fun in a small package: A review of “Wrestangel”

partino — 2008-07-09T03:12:19+00:00

Ha! Gosh, Daniel, I don't know how any game could possibly hope to somehow fill the gap between those respective classics!

Thread: Re: A lot of fun in a small package: A review of “Wrestangel”

cdunc123 — 2008-07-08T21:53:45+00:00

Great review. Thanks!

One quick question (I don't yet own the game): From some of the pics on BGG, I notice that a single card may have differently valued special actions -- say, a 1 and a 5. Why would a player ever use the lesser valued special action?

Thread: Re: WrestAngel or Kung Fu Fighting?

gschmidl — 2008-07-07T12:56:54+00:00

I've not played Kung Fu Fighting, but the "count stage" in WrestAngel takes a few seconds to resolve only. Either you can do it, or you can't.

Thread: WrestAngel or Kung Fu Fighting?

cdunc123 — 2008-07-07T11:53:23+00:00

I'm traveling to visit my nephews later this summer and I want to bring a new game with me. My nephews are 12, 10, and 8 and my son is 8 and my daughter is 6.

The nephews are a pretty rowdy, sports-mad gang, so I'm tempted to bring either Kung Fu Fighting or WrestAngel. The three nephews like WWF wrestling, so the WrestAngel theme is probably a winner. But I'm sure they would get into the Kung Fu theme too.

I'm interested to hear from people who have played both games. Which is the better game for kids that age, in your opinion? Which is more fun? Which is easiest to learn? Does WrestAngel get bogged down in the "count stage" (after an opponent is pinned), as Tom Vasel worries about in his review? And so on.

Thanks!

Image

Zirak — 2008-01-13T05:40:41+00:00

Character Card

Image

Zirak — 2008-01-13T05:39:14+00:00

Ring Card

Image

Zirak — 2008-01-13T05:38:12+00:00

Image

Zirak — 2008-01-13T05:36:09+00:00

Back of the Box

Thread: Re: movement, and "thrown down"

alicious — 2008-01-09T22:37:43+00:00

Thanks for all the clarifications Angelo!

It seems I'm a little late for assisting with rules proofreading, since rick already sent me a copy. I haven't had a chance to play again since receiving the new draft of English rules, but I'm glad the effort was made to clarify them - this really is a fun game and I'd hate for people to be put off it if they were confused by the written rules.

Thread: Re: English rules please?

Kworth — 2007-11-28T18:27:42+00:00

Between the two reviews posted here and the game website
http://www.warangel.it/WrestAngelEng.htm
one can understand how the game is played.

And other than defining the 2 reaction plays, the English rules wouldn't really add that much to your understanding.

Thread: English rules please?

ebridge — 2007-11-27T17:20:37+00:00

Hi there,

I'm interested in purchasing the game, but trying to find where I can read an English copy of the rules. Can you point me in the right direction please? Thanks.

Thread: Re: movement, and "thrown down"

WarAngelo — 2007-09-04T21:45:06+00:00

>ali: movement, and "thrown down"
We've just played our first game, and while it was pretty fun,

Very good, this was my first goal when designing WrestAngel "just have fun", thanks

>spent a lot of time making up rules that seemed to be missing or poorly
>explained on the rulesheet.

for any question, hint about any of the games I enjoy create and illustrate, feel free to ask here on BGG or write me at anporaz@libero.it.
I am a gamer like you, I do my best and appreciate all helps.

>For example:
1) Movement: Must you play a movement card in order to move?

Yes

>This seems kind of silly, since adding movement cards to the warrior's
>movement usually results in a number in the 10-15 range, and there are only
>6 spaces in a three person game before you've come full circle.

You see that all cards are "double reading": the numbers on each card
are used also for the Pin Phase.
That 's why there are numbers up to 7 on green cards too.

>Furthermore, there are often even fewer than 6 moves are possible (if
>surrounded on several sides).

Furthermore adding a high number to your base Movement number, allows you to resist a "charge" or to blast someone in the center of the ring with a charge.

>We decided that a player can always move their warrior during their turn,without playing a card, up to the movement number on the warrior's card.I'm really not sure if this is right.

I like you decide for your own, this is the spirit I prefer: do what you
like to enjoy with your gamin' group.
I simply offer rules, materials, drawings, ideas.
I playtest each of my games 1-10 years, not less, with best gamers around the many Cons and Fairs that invite me here in Italy, before I print it, but I am quite sure nothing is perfect and may not please everyone.
Elaborate each game the way you enjoy the most.
I always do this with other gamers

>2) In the rules, on the "power vs. power" segment, it says that a thrown down warrior can get up during his turn by playing any vitality card.

Correct.

>Does this only apply to power vs. power matches? Or does this mean every time a warrior gets out of a pin, he remains "thrown down" until the player's next turn, and if so, what happens if another player attacks in the interim?

When you get out of a pin you are up.

>I really wish the rules had been better checked for completeness, because I feel like we're missing some things...

If you like, I will appreciate your help for english version of my next
game, just contact me

>p.s.
what is the meaning of the two colors on the warrior cards?

They match the colors of the race of that warrior in Warangel universe
referencesheets.
Being WrestAngel done to celebrate Warangel 10 Years Edition on 2006,
anniversary of my 1st Home Made Game, I just put the "home colors" of each race.

>is this meant to limit choice of warriors somehow?

No, just decorative. If you do not like colors, on the back each warrior has a white background

>because many warriors seemed to be at an obvious advantage over others,
>which were not picked, and might never be picked.

The warrior with highest characteristics and high Values are the "main
targets"... With some experience of other warrior players, "main targets" hardly arrivecat the end of the match

>Kevin: I think you have to play a movement card to move a wrestler. In the attack section it says "by playing a Movement Card, move adjacent to another warrior and attack him."

Correct.
It is up to you to spend the lower green card number to move in the ring and keep the best green cards numbers for the Pin Phase.

>It does seem somewhat silly given the small size and that it seems like you can't move through other players, which I'm also not sure about.

Correct: you cannot move through other wrestlers.

>As for throwdowns, the pin sections says the fighter gets up so after a pin both players are up.

Correct, perfect reading of the rules.

>In the power vs power, I think if only one players win
the throw down then they can pin. But what if the active player gets thrown down, can they immeidately get up? The rules seem to indicate yes but it would seem better if the answer is no.

On your turn, if you have a Pink card, you can use it to get up.
It allows attacker to fight and, if attacker is down together with defender, to immediately get up and and pin the stunned defender.
So it is up to attacker, that may see his own cards before the attack, if attack is riskly (no Pink card in your hand) or safe (Pink Card, just in case of counter attack) to risk a Power attack.
If you like to help me for translations of next games, write me and I will sincerely appreciate all hints
All the Best
Angelo

Thread: [Review] WrestAngel

TomVasel — 2007-09-04T12:23:52+00:00

WrestAngel (Angello Porazzi Games, 2006 – Angello Porazzi) is a game that’s easy to overlook – most likely because it’s one of the smallest games you’ll ever see, coming in a miniscule box with a deck of miniscule cards. It’s the fourth game that Mr. Porazzi has placed in his WarAngel universe – the characters are from several of the armies from that epic game. But rather than focus on the serious aspect of war, this game is a more lighthearted romp look at a different world – that of “professional” wrestling.

And as a light, fast wrestling game, WrestAngel works. If you can get into the wacky theme of this type of wrestling (maybe even making the war cries and grunting noises), it just might become a hit. For me, I found it mildly entertaining, after getting through the poor rules layout, and something that I would enjoy as a diversion – but not much more. It actually does seem to mimic professional wrestling, but I don’t necessarily mean that as a compliment.

Each player picks a team of two characters from the WarAngel universe. These characters have four major stats: Power, Vitality, Movement, and Value. Most characters also have one to three other stats on the cards – with different names but all included in the Action category. A ring is set up with four spaces included for each team – two rope spaces and two ring cards. A deck of cards is shuffled, each with a value from “1” to “7”, and of six different suits (Power, Vitality, Action, Movement, Value, and Joker). Players are dealt four cards, and then the youngest player starts, with play proceeding clockwise.

On a player’s turn, they may play cards from their hand to activate one or both of their warriors on the table.
- Movement cards are added to the character’s movement stat, giving the total number of spaces that player may move. Since there are fairly few spaces on the board, this doesn’t matter much. However, if the character moves into the center space of the ring, then any opponent on a rope card can declare a charge, playing a movement card that (adding in their own movement stat) is higher than the moving character’s total. If this happens, the moving character is immediately knocked down.
- Power cards can be used to attack an adjacent opponent. They play their power card face down on the table, which is added to their power stat for a total number. The defender must either take the attack (in which case they are knocked down), or play a power card (in which case it’s likely that both characters will be knocked down), a vitality card (which if added to the vitality of the defender, is higher than the total attack – the attack misses), or a movement card (which avoids the attack by moving the character to an opposing space). Both attacking card and defending cards are played face down then revealed. Attackers win all ties.
- Action cards can be used only once a turn, unless the player has multiple actions. They are played the same as an attack with the same results – except a defender who plays a power card will automatically be knocked down.
- A player can also attack with a Value card but only if they are on a ropes card and adjacent to an opponent directly in front of them. Value numbers are usually quite hard; so while they can be defended with Vitality (not Power –an automatic knockdown), it’s usually best to avoid them with a movement card. Value cards can also be played as a “reaction,” when an opponent moves into the spot directly in front of a player on the ropes.
- Wild cards can be played as any type of card.

Whenever a character is knocked down, a pin phase occurs. Both the attacker and defender draw three additional cards to their hand. They then both play ANY card from their hand face down, with the attacker attempting to play an equal or higher numbered card (only the numbers matter). If the attacker succeeds, both cards are discarded and another round occurs. A defender needs to only win once for the pin round to immediately end; but if an attacker wins three times in a row, the defending character is eliminated from the game! Otherwise the knocked down player stands back up. A knocked down player can also stand up on their turn by playing any vitality card.

A player can have many cards in their hand (as these are the results of being pinned, etc.), but only draws up to four at the end of their turn (they may discard as many as they like beforehand). The game continues until one team is eliminated. At that point, players total the value of the characters still remaining on their team and add the values of any character their team eliminated. The player with the highest total is the winner!

Some comments on the game…

1.) Components: It’s a tiny deck of cards in a tiny, tiny box. This makes it highly portable, of course; but I still removed the cards and put them in a sturdier, easier to find plastic box. The card artwork is enjoyable, although small – like the cards. The numbers are fairly easy to read – with little letters near them to help if you can’t see the colors. Some aren’t going to like the small cards, and I think the game would have been enhanced with a larger size; but it is functional.

2.) Rules: I had the privilege of seeing the first draft of the rules, and I can say that what comes with the game is light years better. Still, the translation from Italian isn’t always easy to understand, and the layout of the rules can be quite confusing. It is possible to figure out (or you can read my summary instead), and really – the game isn’t so confusing to teach. In fact, with the constant getting knocked down and back up, it’s interesting how the mechanics of the game really fit with the theme of the genre.

3.) Knockdowns: By far, the most interesting (and frequent) part of the game is the pin phase. Players are attempting to out maneuver each other. The defender has the advantage in that they only need to win ONE of the three rounds; but the attacker wins ties, so they simply need to play smart. Also, if the defender loses the second round and the attacker has a “7” card in their hand, that’s the end of the defending character – one must be careful not to fall in this trap. This simultaneous selection mechanic is always a favorite of mine, and I enjoy it quite a bit in this game with one caveat. There’s just so much of it going on – these pin phases are happening on every turn. A good half or more of the game is consumed by these pin phases, and I think it’s a bit much (for the game, not the theme.)

4.) Tactics: Certainly there’s a chunk of luck in the game, with all the cards that one is drawing from the deck; but it appears to even out. Of course, a “7” in any card type is a nice thing to have – especially for the perpetual pin phases, but it is interesting to know what cards to play when attacking and defending. Movement is the best way to defend; but by using up your movement cards, a player takes reduces their maneuverability quite a bit. Using Attack cards is invariably better than using Power cards, but the numbers on the characters are usually lower, making the chance of success against Vitality smaller. And is it ever worth it to step into the middle space of the board? Look, there are no agonizing decisions to be made here, but there is enough variety to keep it fun for people looking to play a light game.

5.) Characters: I’m not sure if the characters (who seem awfully close to real wrestler names – “Ray Hissterio”, “Jess the Snake”, “Ultimate Eagle”) are balanced, but there are none that I would have a problem using. Taking a creature with a high Value means that their stats are most likely better, but they also become a huge target – especially in multi-player games. Typical stats for the game: Hooker Nile (Power 4, Vitality 4, Move 4, Value 6, Attack 3) and Dawn Fire (Power 6, Vitality 4, Move 7, Value 10, Attacks 1 and 2). As you can see, the stats aren’t THAT different, but they do cause some variety; and with twenty choices, players should be satisfied.

6.) Players and Time: The game supports up to five players normally and can go up to ten if each player only uses one character. These larger style games can be extremely chaotic with wrestlers running everywhere (think Royal Rumble), and I think a three-player game or even a two-player game is the best version. Even so, I enjoy the fact that the game ends after one elimination, keeping it short and making every move count. WrestAngel would be quite horrific if it lasted a long time; ending after only twenty minutes makes it quite okay.

7.) Theme and Fun Factor: I thought I wanted to play a silly wrestling game, but I guess not, even though WrestAngel really does simulate one! It will appeal with those who want to make loud noises when attacking an opponent; those who sit enthralled by WWE each week; or those who simply want to have a silly time when playing.

You know, other than the small cards and box, there isn’t much negative that I can say against WrestAngel – it really does deliver on the theme of “pro” wrestling, and I know that a lot of folks are going to enjoy it based on those terms. For me, however, the game was simply okay; I wasn’t that excited and felt like there were too many pin phases. But this is how I feel about pro wrestling in general, so perhaps my disdain for the “sport” has carried over to the game. Even though in WrestAngel you have a giant-winged insect fighting a minotaur, it’s a carbon copy of what I’ve seen on TV otherwise. So my recommendation is: let your feelings for professional wrestling dictate your choice about purchasing your game. They’ll probably line up neatly.

Tom Vasel
“Real men play board games”
www.thedicetower.com

Thread: Re: movement, and "thrown down"

Kworth — 2007-07-19T21:53:24+00:00

I think you have to play a movement card to move a wrestler. In the attack section it says "by playing a Movement Card, move adjacent to another warrior and attack him."

It does seem somewhat silly given the small size and that it seems like you can't move through other players, which I'm also not sure about.

As for throwdowns, the pin sections says the fighter gets up so after a pin both players are up. In the power vs power, I think if only one players win the throw down then they can pin. But what if the active player gets thrown down, can they immeidately get up? The rules seem to indicate yes but it would seem better if the answer is no.

Thread: Re: movement, and "thrown down"

alicious — 2007-07-14T21:43:02+00:00

p.s.

what is the meaning of the two colors on the warrior cards? is this meant to limit choice of warriors somehow? because many warriors seemed to be at an obvious advantage over others, which were not picked, and might never be picked.

Thread: movement, and "thrown down"

alicious — 2007-07-14T21:40:53+00:00

We've just played our first game, and while it was pretty fun, we spent a lot of time making up rules that seemed to be missing or poorly explained on the rulesheet. For example:

1) Movement: Must you play a movement card in order to move? This seems kind of silly, since adding movement cards to the warrior's movement usually results in a number in the 10-15 range, and there are only 6 spaces in a three person game before you've come full circle. Furthermore, there are often even fewer than 6 moves are possible (if surrounded on several sides). We decided that a player can always move their warrior during their turn, without playing a card, up to the movement number on the warrior's card. I'm really not sure if this is right.

2) In the rules, on the "power vs. power" segment, it says that a thrown down warrior can get up during his turn by playing any vitality card. Does this only apply to power vs. power matches? Or does this mean every time a warrior gets out of a pin, he remains "thrown down" until the player's next turn, and if so, what happens if another player attacks in the interim?

I really wish the rules had been better checked for completeness, because I feel like we're missing some things...

Thread: Re: A lot of fun in a small package: A review of “Wrestangel”

monkeyrobot — 2007-05-24T12:41:45+00:00

Nice review!

I hope this game covers the neglected gap between Wrasslin' and Secret Tijuana Deathmatch!

Thread: A lot of fun in a small package: A review of “Wrestangel”

partino — 2007-05-21T20:35:09+00:00

Angelo Porazzi’s games are all about having fun. With games such as “Warangel,” “Peacebowl” and “TaTaTa!” to his credit, Porazzi’s “Wrestangel” is no exception.

This card game comes in a small box that just fits the cards, which measure 1 11/16” by 2 5/8”. The cards feature Mr. Porazzi’s characteristically whimsical artwork. In all there are 84 cards: 20 Warrior Cards, 20 Ring Cards, 42 Deck Cards, 2 cards advertising other Porazzi games—plus one rules sheet that folds into roughly one 8” x 11” piece of paper. The Warrior Cards, printed in Italian on one side and English on the other, feature such names as “Jess the Snake,” “Hooker Nile,” “Baptizer Animal,” and “Lion Vanham,” among others.

The game can be played from anywhere from 2 to 10 players. From 2-5 players, each player gets two warriors; from 6-10 each player gets one.

The rules sheet shows how to set out Ring Cards to form a ring. The ring consists of two cards, laid out one above the other, with a Ring Card closer to the center and a Rope Card laid above the Ring Card. Warriors start the game situated on the Rope Card.

The goal of the game, naturally, is to pin your opponent or opponents. (Depending on how many people play, players have one or two warriors that they handle.) In a two-player game, the winner is the first person that eliminates both of his opponents’ warriors. In a multi-player game, the game ends when the first player loses one or both of his Warriors to a pin. The other players then add up the value of their own remaining wrestlers plus any wrestlers they may have pinned. The player with the highest point total wins. Ties are possible.

Warriors are rated for various abilities, including Power (the ability to throw down an opponent for an attempted pin), Vitality (the ability to resist being thrown down), Movement (the ability to move in the ring or away from someone trying to thrown down a warrior, or, a rating used to “Charge”—pushing off the ropes and charge into an opponent in the center of the ring), Special Actions (an attack which employs a special hold or ability listed on a warrior’s card), and Value (the ability to “fly” from the ropes down onto an opposing Warrior situated on a Ring Card, and, the value of the warrior itself for the final score in the game).

All of these abilities are color coded: Red for Power, Pink for Vitality, Green for Movement and Charge, Gray for Special Actions, and Yellow for Fly From the Ropes and the value of the warrior. Each warrior is rated for Power, Vitality, Movement and Fly From the Ropes. With one exception, each warrior also has 0 to 3 Special Actions (gray) ratings on the center part of its card. These ratings are listed as numbers within colored circles on each Deck Card. In actual play, the Deck Card ratings are combined with corresponding color ratings on the Warrior Cards to give an overall point total. Additionally, there are Orange Deck Cards that are wild cards and can be played as any type of card the owner chooses.

Each player starts the game with four Deck Cards. On one’s turn, one can play none or all of one’s cards. At the beginning of one’s turn, one has to draw back up to 4 cards, but can choose to discard all remaining cards if one wishes.

The basic idea of the game is to throw down an opposing warrior and pin him or her. To do that, on one’s turn a player must either attack an adjacent opposing warrior or move one’s own warrior to become adjacent to another warrior before attacking. When attacking, to get the full effect, the owning player should scream the special “war cry” listed on the warrior card and then play one Deck Card—a Power Card, a Special Action Card, or, depending on the situation, a Charge or Fly From the Ropes Card—to try and throw down an opponent. On defense, a player can play a Vitality Card to resist, a Movement Card to evade, or, depending on the situation, a Power Card to try to throw down the attacker instead.

For example, Hooker Niles has a power rating of 4. Let’s say one of the 4 Deck Cards the owner is playing has a red 4 on it (Deck Cards can have point values from 1-7). The owner declares he’s going to attack Ray Hissterio and yells Hooker Niles’ scream, “SOOOBEK!” placing the Deck Card face down. Ray Hissterio’s owner plays a Deck Card face down—a Vitality 3 card, which, combined with Hissterio’s Vitality rating of 4 makes a total of 7. Both players reveal their face-down Deck Cards, and we see that Niles’ power total of 8 (4 + 4) beats Hissterio’s total of 7 (3 + 4), so Hissterio is thrown down. Now we go into what’s known as the Pin Phase.

Each owning player is dealt an additional 3 cards from the draw pile (you’ll probably find that you have to reshuffle the draw pile during a game, particularly with more players). From all the cards they now hold, each player selects 3 cards, which they place face down. They then agree in which order they’ll reveal their cards because each card represents one count in a 3-count pinning process. Each time the attacker plays a card equal to or greater than the defender’s card, that’s one count in the pin. If the attacker can play 3 consecutive cards equal to or greater than that of his opponent, he completes a pin and is awarded the point value of the defeated wrestler (the yellow number in the lower right-hand portion of the warrior’s card).

To continue this example, let’s say that on the first card revealed the attacker and defender both play a 5: a tie goes to the attacker so that’s one count. The second card revealed shows another 5 for the attacker and a 4 for the defender, so that’s two counts. Finally, the attacker plays a 7 card, knowing that no matter what the defender does now, the best he can do is play a 7, which is a tie and therefore doesn’t stop the pin. Sure enough, that’s exactly what the defending player was thinking as he turns up a 7, but it’s not enough to avoid the pin.

After a pin, or if the defender avoids a pin, players discard if necessary back to 4 Deck Cards in their hands.

Incidentally, it is not easy to pin an opponent for 3 consecutive card plays. One needs a number of high cards and also needs to outguess which cards the defending player might play in the 3-card pin sequence.

Charge and Fly From the Ropes can also be devastating attacks that usually will result in a defender being thrown down, but can only be played in certain circumstances when one warrior is on the ropes and an opposing warrior is either moving across the center of the ring or is situated on a Ring Card. And, Joker Cards can be both versatile and valuable to play on either attack or defense.

As for the screaming, players don’t necessarily have to do so when they attack, but to get the most out of this game you might as well get all the way into it and scream away. I’ve played it with adults and kids, and the kids in particular get a kick out of it when I scream upon attacking. I even insisted that my screams helped complete a pin.

Once players catch on to the various rules, the game plays fast and furious. Given its nature, trash-talking also follows. The game is rated for ages 6 and up. Younger players, of course, need to be taught and guided through game play, but by explaining some basic rules and simply playing through the game, even the youngest players can follow the game.

On the BoardGameGeek rating system, I give this game an 8: It’s a game I’d heartily recommend to others (regardless of their interest in pro wrestling), and I can’t imagine turning down a game. As with Porazzi’s other games, it’s obvious that a lot of thought and play-testing went into this game. The result for gamers is simply a good time.

Thread: Ready for the Royal Rumble

kurtz — 2006-11-09T19:36:28+00:00

I bought this game directly from Angelo Porazzi at the Lucca Games '06 on the wave of Peacebowl enthusiasm, a game my group likes a lot.
Wrestangel cames with 84 cards: 20 wrestler cards, 42 action cards, 20 ring cards and two cars showing different games from Angelo.
Each wrestler has a different race and is identified with five numbers: Power, Movement, Valour, Vitality and Special Action.
Players start the turn with two wrestlers each and 4 or more action card in hand. You can combine action cards with your wrestler values to move around the ring or to attack the other players, when you win a fight you have to keep the opponent on the ground for three long seconds: both players pick three cards and play them to the highest value.
This is the most interesting phase, full of tension and bluffs: you can attack to eliminate your opponent or just to fill your hand with better cards.
Rules cover the dynamics a fantasy wrestling match can offer: Attacks, Counterattacks, Jumps from the Ropes, Charges and Special Attacks like Skorpion Stings, Dread Roars, Toothed Paws Hold and more.
The game is fast and funny and if you adhere strictly to the rules and for each attack you scream your Battlecry (a different one for each wrestler) the game can be even funnier.

Rules could be better written with clearer examples, but after a few minutes you understand the flow of the game. The cards art is good as Angelo used us. A good, funny, chaotic game.
Just don't take it too seriously

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WarAngelo — 2006-11-08T18:52:30+00:00

LuccaGames06: WrestAngel and Warangel10 Years Edition in Indipendence Bay

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WarAngelo — 2006-10-25T21:37:31+00:00

Jost Schwider of Spielepizza.de, Angelo Porazzi and Manfred Rohmkopf of Spielerei, near a WrestAngel match at Essen06

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Gonzaga — 2006-10-25T13:42:20+00:00

Essen 2006

Thread: Re: WrestAngel at FairPlayGames USA

metalface13 — 2006-10-01T17:23:21+00:00

Is it published in English as well? And is there any info/rules I can read in English also?

Thread: Essen 06: GIRO D'ITALIA LUDICO Italian Game Tour

WarAngelo — 2006-09-13T11:54:06+00:00

http://www.spielepizza.de/giro.htm

This is a kind and important idea of German gamer and luding journalist Jost Schwider "Jost aus Soest".
Here the article on BoardGameNews by Andrea Ligabue.
Really honoured this initiative who joins and show together lots of Italian authors and games, starts from my Essen booth 9-28.
Proud to partecipate and be a little part of it with logo i designed and Jost appreciated.
Angelo Porazzi

Andrea "Liga" Ligabue - Essen: Giro d'Italia Ludico
Essen 2006 - Italian Games Tour.

During Essen 2006 there will be the first edition of “Giro d’Italia Ludico” aimed to bring peoples at Italian stands. The Tour will start at SpielePizza Stand (9-28 at Angelo Porazzi Games
booth) where you can grab a leaflet (or download on www.spielepizza.de from 9-10-2006), give the right answers and win a game!

To give the right answers you are invited to visit the italian booths showing the logo “GIRO D’ITALIA LUDICO” meet authors and know their games.

Every evening at 17:00 the winner (randomly selected between people able to give all the right answer) will get a copy of one of these games: BauSquitMiao, Bolide, Bolide Tracks #1, Daimyo, Esagek, Fast Mindstalkers, Figaro, High Voltage, HysteriCoach, Krumble, Maestro Leonardo, Mamma, SharkPark, SnakeLake, TATATA!, WrestAngel!

Here http://www.spielepizza.de/giro.htm you can find all the info and details about the Tour. The leaflet will be available in English, German and Italian languages.

Source: Jost aus Soest / SpielePizza

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panteo — 2006-09-13T08:45:03+00:00

The author (Angelo Porazzi) during a paly session

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WarAngelo — 2006-07-14T00:30:11+00:00

WrestAngel Box Cover

Thread: WrestAngel at FairPlayGames USA

WarAngelo — 2006-05-09T18:53:25+00:00

After official presentations and Tournaments at
MiniMod Modena
http://warangel.it/MM6eng.html
LudicaMente Mantova
http://warangel.it/LM6.html
And La Citta' del Gioco Milano
http://warangel.it/CdG.html

WrestAngel has now landed in US, available at FairPlayGames
http://www.fairplaygames.com/gamedisplay.asp?gameid=4003

To see the game and tournament rules, visit the website
www.warangel.it
have fun
Angelo

Thread: WrestAngel Official Presentation - MiniMod 2006

Alirainbow — 2006-04-26T22:49:35+00:00

from official website

http://warangel.it/MM6eng.html

Very nice pictures!
Seems to be a friendly encounter and a crazy tournament

Thread: WrestAngel available now

WarAngelo — 2006-03-28T00:20:41+00:00

The brand new complete card game WrestAngel is available now, march 27th 2006. You can see and order it on official webiste www.warangel.it
First copies in USA will be available soon at FairPlayGame that preordered it.
Hope you'll appreciate this interactive card game, born to celebrate Warangel 10 Years Edition.
Thanks
Angelo Porazzi

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wallover — 2006-01-24T08:17:54+00:00

Between graphics and games - Angelo shows to me some printing tricks of WrestAngel sheet

Thread: WrestAngel prototype at IDEAG 2006

WarAngelo — 2006-01-18T14:33:06+00:00

http://warangel.it/06e.html

On my website are now available PhotoReports in ITA and ENG of this gathering of authors. Very nice organization with a rich list of hosts like Neuvwahl or Boelinger and many italian designers and publishers. Great feedback for WrestAngel prototype that is now on print.