Goodevenin' all,

Before rushing off : I have no affiliations whatsoever with Days of Wonder or any of their representatives. The following collection of words are just my initial opinions and thoughts as a player who was given the chance to be given a demo today by one of the DOW guys. As this trust was given and it's still a two-way direction, I will not shed anything "new" or "secret thingies" and hope you guys and gals will experience for yourselves what's behind the curtains [trust me on this, a whole lot more! ]
And yes, English is not my native language but hey, hope it's readable/understandable...

So, with the above in mind, let's just barge right in :
* The Box : upon seeing the box, a small tear of joy spoiled the 'coolness' factor of the moment and a childish enthousiasm started to emerge. It's indeed 1/3rd larger than the standard DOW boxes and my oh my, it's stacked to the top with miniatures, flags and components. The biggest problem as I see it, will be fitting this all back into the box [same system as M44 : plastic trays to keep everything in place].
* The Art : vibrant colours, ravishing designs and that brilliant concept art that graces the manual! Marvellous stuff and well, I've seen my share of great designs but this is top notch quality!
* The Manual : I'm entering an area here which has its secrets. Don't you hate it when people just spoil the end of a movie [eg the 6th Sense] and the joy of the surprise? Let's just say that the manual will be a very pleasant surprise : quickly glanced through the many [many] pages and after hearing there would be a 2nd volume with the scenarios, I started to grin like a maniac...
* The Game : as we all tend to do, it's hard not to 'compare' this to Memoir or the likes. Yes, I have both Battlecry and Memoir 44 and played C&C once [still waiting for the 2nd edition to arrive] but they are all three, different games. There are similarities [the 3 zones, the cards] but they just 'feel' different... The same for Battlelore : running through the demo, it was quickly apparent that this game has quite some unique features : again, without shedding any secrets : let's just say you will be able to revive characters, the terrain will be another thing to consider when planning your moves [but not as you might think it would / you'll see ;-) ] and those 3-coloured units seem to be offering a diverse range of tactics. Again, as I was given just a demo and not actual gameplay [not a whine at all ! ], I can't say anything else but the above.
* The Miniatures : yes, the flags seem to be sturdy and yes, there are tons of 'em! And yes, they look great. Any painters out there who would like to paint my mini's for 100GG?

Anything more? As I was given a quick overview of the game, I'm looking at the future of Battlelore with even more anticipation. Some of my questions formed around the expendability of this game [Goblin trolleys anyone? Other races?] but you will certainly get your money's worth with this base game.
That's all for now...

Kind regards,
/dimi

Thanks for the information Dimitri! Your english was pretty good by the way. How does BattleLore compare to Commands and Colors: Ancients in terms of complexity (I realize your playing experience is rather limited)?

Hi there Ken, thanks for the positive feedback Sincerely appreciated!
Well, as I always prefer to hand out the bare facts [and don't tend to go for general 'assumptions'], I can't really give you a honest reply on your question... Wish I could though but I can't. I did ask how it compares to the other titles though : apparently it would be easier than C&C but seeing some more of the goodies behind the game, I'm pretty sure the way of playing will be different [the fantasy setting with a dash of roleplaying is certainly present].

Thanks so much for sharing, Dmitri, you lucky son of a gun you!!! Man, if I wasn't drooling for this before, I sure am now - can't wait until it's my turn for my first play!!

Yeah, this one has climbed the charts for me as well...
Right now it's
1)Yspahan
2)Battlelore
3)Augsburg 1520

And I am done for the year
Can't wait...jeez...I can't wait!

Great summary! But when? WHEN???

Brady : I thought this was already known so the game will be released at the end of November...

The pain.............the suffering.

Wake me up when November comes....
(Tip on the way)

Dimitri,

Thank you for the snapshot. Actually, you did provide some new information (I hope DoW doesn't hunt you down for doing that!). Battlelore is going to be a great addition to the C&C line. Let's see....with the usual delays...this could make a perfect item for my Christmas list....

Thomas

Goodevening Thomas,

Up until now, nobody from DoW has slapped me on the fingers for shedding too much info but hey, what if I told about the ingenious system to... Almost had you there?

What can I say, as it seems that DoW IS reading this thread/section [a warm round of applause please] : go out and buy the game for the Christmas period. And while you're at it, buy some copies for your friends, family members and neighbours. Don't stop there : there certainly must be other people that could benefit from you purchasing 100 copies of the game. Go out, act crazy, spend dollars! Hmmm, if my Christmas bonus is not fulfilled after this shameless plug?

Honestly, I think this would be a nice addition to any collection that offers enough variation [compared to M44/Battle Cry] but don't lynch me if I prove to be wrong. After all, I just had a tad more than a quick glance and as many of us do, I'm as anxious to explore the Battlelore-world on our gaming table... Patience is such a nice virtue!

But hey, as this game is from DoW and they seem to set their standards pretty high, there's a small voice out there that's whispering me that this won't be a 'dud'

Kind regards,
/dimi

Don't worry: This game IS great and worth every penny. I also had the chance to watch how people played. I would've been able to play it myself, but unfortunately another game took me too long.