Essential Expansions: Merlin's Company (Shadows Over Camelot)

For some people, us included, games are even better when they get more pieces, rules and ways to play. While not all expansions are created equal, and some disappoint, this series will only concentrate on those we believe add value and longevity, as well as the crucial factor - fun, to all your favourite gaming experiences.

As described in more detail in the post on Co-Operative Games, Shadows over Camelot is the rather evil little game of heroism and treachery from the Knights Of The Round Table. Knights travel to various quests to overcome the evil threatening the lands, but where there are heroes there is always the ever present threat of a traitor in the ranks, sowing destruction and mistrust.

You can pick up Shadows Over Camelot here.

So what does Merlin's Company, the expansion to this game, add to it?

Well, on first opening the box it appears like not much, but let me tell you - this is a little box with a lot of punch! It introduces a higher level of difficulty but with the ability to customise things to your liking.

Firstly, it introduces Merlin himself, who acts independently of the knights, moving to quests as a result of a card draw (more on Travel Cards later) and helping out whoever is present by giving them extra cards or blocking the placement of siege engines. He is undoubtedly a powerful aid in your efforts but is unreliable and may end up in worthless locations, such as the two wars, if you are not careful.

The travel cards are a major obstacle to overcome in your efforts. Some of them do nothing, some move Merlin, but far more concerning are the ones that cause you trouble, either getting you lost, captured or even attacked! Bearing in mind in the original game you could travel without any danger at all, these additions make things significantly more difficult.

Adding even more difficulty are Morgan's seven witches, seven different cardsadding nasty magical effects to the rules that severely hamper the knights' efforts. These vary from increasing the penalty when you make a false accusation to preventing the use of life points for extra actions, directly damaging the knights.

To balance things out a bit they have included a whole load of new white cards to give the kights some more powers, one crucial one is the Dispel card that removes one of the effects of the witches and another is the truce card that ends a war in a stalemate with no positive or negative effects.

However, even with the addition of Merlin and the new white cards, the difficulty of the game is definitely increased if all new rules are used - the witches and travel cards can make even the most simple of plans extremely dicey. This may turn some folks off the game, but for my group of friends it added a lot of fun and I reckon, significant extra longevity to what is already a fantastic fun game.

In addition to these new rules we get the eighth knight, Sir Bedivere (who can discard one of his cards to gain another one) and along with him seven extra knight cards, though these use the same models as in the original game, which have more interesting if harder to grasp abilities.

Now, to the most interesting and crucial change - the addition of Sir Bedivere means that the game is playable with 8 players now (rather than 7). To adapt to this change you get a new set of loyalty cards in the box, with not the one traitor card, but two.

That's right - you could be facing two traitors in the 7 and 8 player games!

Naturally as loyalty assignment is blind, the two traitors won't know who the other evildoer is, but their potential presence will cause serious concern especially since it is possible that no traitors at all are present in the game so players must be very careful about making wild accusations.

Shadows Over Camelot is one of my, and my friends and family's favourite games - it is an ingenious mix of interplayer politics and co-operative crisis management. It is one of the first games I recommend when asked for my favourites, and Merlin's Company is an exceptional expansion to the experience - adding just enough in all areas of the game, without greatly increasing its complexity or teaching time.

Both are highly recommended!

...keep playing!

Algo

Essential Expansions: The Dunwich Horror

Welcome to our new series on game expansions. For some people, us included, games are even better when they get more pieces, rules and ways to play. While not all expansions are created equal, and some disappoint, this series will only concentrate on those we believe add value and longevity, as well as the crucial factor - fun, to all your favourite gaming experiences.

For fans of the excellent Arkham Horror, Fantasy Flight have really pushed the boat out on expansions.

The original game blends RPG elements with the control and reliability of board game rules, your investigators co-operate to fight off the forces of evil and win through against terrible odds.

It is a fantastic game in its own right, and we are proud to stock it.

you can pick up Arkham Horror here

So good is it, in fact, that to date there has been sufficient demand for Fantasy Flight to deliver five whole expansions (three smaller boxes and two larger) with another on the way in 2009.

Dunwich was the first of the big box expansions for Arkham released, and while the smaller boxes like Curse Of The Dark Pharaoh added cards, rules and excitement, the Dunwich Horror expansion adds a whole lot more.

We are pleased to offer this expansion for a a very special price - check it out here

The main addition you get is the small town of Dunwich itself, represented by an additional board that sits above the original to increase the playing area. To reach Dunwich an investigator has only to go to Arkham's train station and pay a dollar for a ticket. Once they have done so, Dunwich awaits them with all new locations and events to face.

Chief amongst these events is the rise of the Dunwich Horror, a super-nasty beasty with variable strength which presents extreme peril and great danger for the investigators. It awakens if too many monsters are absorbed by the many wormholes around the town, so keeping the monsters at bay in Dunwich is crucial. If the Horror does awaken, defeating this abomination will give great rewards, and while it is awake the doom track hastens toward awakening the Ancient One itself, so the players are well advised to vanquish it as soon as possible.

The set contains more of these Ancient Ones for you to face, too. My personal favourite is Shudde M'ell, a giant worm like creature (think "Tremors"!) that destroys parts of town as he stirs in his slumber, meaning somewhere you wanted to go could well be razed to the ground before you get there. Even something as basic as changing the Ancient One you face can have far reaching consequences for the way your game goes, so getting four more in this set really gives a little bit extra.

The rest is mainly additional things for the main game, but there's so much of it included, I'm not sure where to start...

Well, you get eight new investigators like the Psychic and The Expedition Leader who give new ways to play as well as excellent new powers for your use. You also get many new items, unique items, allies and spells as well as all the mythos cards necessary for opening gates in Dunwich.

The new "injury and madness" cards give you the option to take a chance when temporarily insane or unconscious - where you would usually lose half of your equipment and clues you may now choose to take one of these cards instead, but beware! Some of them can cause major trouble and all of them put you at a permanent disadvantage, such as not being able to use a hand, or not being allowed any allies.

Another key introduction in Dunwich Horror is the Gate Burst mythos cards. In the original game, once a gate was sealed that was it - no beasties coming through there any more. With this addition, a sealed gate bursts open and must be resealed. These are easily identified by their red backgrounds and can be removed if you find the dynamic they present a little too long-winded.

Even more new bits in the form of new monsters and the introduction of tasks and missions for the investigators mean that this expansion is more or less essential for anyone wanting more fun from the Arkham system.

Frankly, I own all five expansions and am already saving up for the sixth when it is released. The Arkham Horror game more than any other captures, for me, the ideal cooperative feeling of desperation and victory against the odds, as well as being incredibly tough.

It's fair to say The Dunwich Horror adds a extra difficulty to the game, being as it creates a whole lot of new drains on an investigator's precious time and as it adds the gate bursts.

I would definitely say, though, that if you are planning to purchase just one expansion for Arkham - this is the one to get, though of course I'd recommend all five as worth the investment!

...keep playing!

Alec Chapman for The BoardGameGuru Team

Our Favourites: BattleLore

BattleLore offers gamers the chance to play anything from a small historical battle between the French and English during the Hundred Years War to a huge, sweeping fantasy battle with magic spells being thrown, deadly creatures like the Giant Spider, and Dwarf or Goblin allies.

It is this ability to customise your favourite battles that make BattleLore so appealing to wargame enthusiasts and fantasy fans alike.

In the box you get two whole armies' worth of plastic miniatures, a big pile of tokens and cards making this a great value package. You also will get a gorgeous map to play on, adaptable to any one of the scenarios included with the game using the landscape pieces, so that your battles can take place in anything from an open plain to dense forest - and all the rules you need to take this scenery into account in your battles are included.

Everyone would rather learn a game by playing it, instead of having to memorise a massive book before they can get it on the table. The mass appeal of BattleLore is assured by its approach to teaching you the game. Your first game will be a battle between two human armies, and as you move through the scenarios provided you will learn all the extra rules for each in turn, making the learning of the rules both fun and easy.

In summary, your turn consists of playing a card to order units, moving those units and then attacking with them. Different units have different skills, strengths and weaknesses and one of the most fun parts of the game is learning to get the most out of your army.

It takes minimal time to set up a battle, and each one will take somewhere between a half hour and an hour, meaning several games can be played in an evening.

Take a look at a game set up and ready to play, below.
From this picture you can see a full game set up (that is to say, one using all the rules). One glance is enough to get you wanting to sit down and play a game or two immediately.

This picture shows two full armies facing off and ready to charge, as well as the order cards, magic spell cards and war councils. It should give a great idea of what to expect when you get started on the BattleLore journey.

All of the forest, river and hill pieces are removable, meaning a landscape can be set up in countless different ways, either by following the setup instructions in the scenario booklet, or by inventing your own epic confrontations.

For further ways to customise your own battles, the makers of BattleLore have released many expansion sets to give you even more allies, enemies and battlefields.


On the back of the board provided with the game is half of a giant board - the other half can come from a friend's copy of BattleLore - but you can always choose to make this Epic experience available to you by instead using a specially released extra board, available here. With the Epic Board setup, you can involve more players in your games, either with three a side using the Field Marshal and Generals variant, or two a side using the "Reluctant Allies" variant. Both of these options introduce a fantastic new team aspect to what is already a fabulous experience. It also includes many new scenarios for use with the larger format.


One of the hardest parts in designing your own battles is picking opposing forces that are different, yet balanced in strength enough to be fair - you can make this a matter of moments with the Call To Arms expansion - in a single box you are given the ability to create literally millions of army configurations, and this means no two battles need ever be the same again! It also contains many suggested battlefields to build for your custom armies to fight over.


Of course, if you find yourself growing tired of the same old units the option is provided to expand your game to include special packs, such as The Scottish Wars, The Hundred Years War, Goblin Marauders and many more - each provides new minatures representing exciting new participants in your epic battles. They also include the cards necessary to make them compatible with your other expansions, like Call To Arms, meaning great units like the Dwarven Cattle Riders can now take part in your own designs as well! These expansions each include new scenarios to play with the new figures, as well as those units in your original copy.

The BattleLore range offers a superb level of choice, customisability and fun for anyone even slightly interested in wargaming, and it is easy to teach, fast to play and has a real "just one more game" factor.

It is one of the true giants of modern gaming, we are proud to stock BattleLore and many of its expansions at great, great prices.

To purchase BattleLore follow this link. Any questions, as always, can be directed to Paul using this link.

...keep playing!

The BoardGameGuru team

N.B. At time of writing, the BattleLore range has recently changed hands, from the original publishers, Days Of Wonder, to Fantasy Flight - the publishers of Arkham Horror, Conan et al., . The means that over the coming months some of the expansions may not be available regularly, but rest assured that embarking on the BattleLore experience will continue to be as rewarding to its legions of fans as it has ever been. Fantasy Flight have a great reputation for the quality of their productions and their support for existing games - these expansions will return soon!