Welcome back to Keith's Korner, the place where the walls meet at strange angles and dystopian lands are accessed through the magical laws of geometric patterns; where one can fall asleep and wake in another dimension and through the horrendous ear-splitting voice of Azathoth, encounter a world beyond; a world unknown; a world of gaming! (If you haven't played Arkham Horror, it's good)
First off, the wife. She's been looking for a new job because apparently scratching my back with the feet of a troll doll doesn't pay well enough anymore. Whilst this adventure of job finding has been "on the go" as they say on the east coast, I've been "the hell out of the house" as my wife so eloquently commands. Due to this expulsion, I've been playing a game or two.
Age of Conan: The Strategy Board Game! Brought to us by Roberto Di Meglio, Marco Maggi & Francesco Nepitello (the makers of Marvel Heroes and War of the Ring) and through the classy template of high quality crap that is Fantasy Flight, this game does not disappoint. Finding a very accessible middle ground between Marvel Heroes and War of the Ring, the game takes the action dice motif employed by the others and creates a new fun mechanic. Simply put, you roll the action dice, and you all take turns picking one at a time and performing the action. Brilliant, due to the fact that you don't have to sit and watch one person perform seven actions in a row.
Now, if you don't know Conan, or know him only from his movie appearances (which by the way is totally acceptable, Conan the Barbarian being one of my favorite movies ever with the killer combo of broads and broadswords), he is the creation of one Robert E. Howard and has hacked, slashed and drank his way through many an adventure/monster/woman. He's got long black hair and he's pissed off! There, you're caught up. Point being, the theme is strong and the art (thanks again Fantasy Flight) is through the roof.
Without going too in depth, for I think it best you discover the game on your own, there is one thing I liked a lot that I think is worth mentioning. You can, of course, complete military victories to subjugate neutral nations, but what I love is that this game gives you an alternate option, one of diplomacy. In principle, the mechanic for sending an emissary to a place and converting it to a friendly nation is not much different than fighting, it's just different enough and feels like you have more options and variety in the way you go about conquering the Crom out of everything. So if you're a Conan fan or a fan of these designers, or just a fan of performing kicking of the asses and taking of the nameses, this could be right up your Hyborian alley.
Great game, can't wait to play it again.
See you next time.
Keith
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