A silver stake? A crucifix? What, did you think we haven’t tried everything before?

Another big unboxing! Peter checks out everything for Grimcoven, the new boss battler from Awaken Realms!

Before I say anything more, yes, someone did point out to me I pronounced ‘Grimcoven’ incorrectly throughout this entire video, and I’m deeply ashamed about it. We all make mistakes! But anyway, there’s a lot of exciting stuff to check out here, in my first video about this challenging new game from Awaken.

Grimcoven is a gorgeous looking game with enough boss battling goodness to last you many years, so let‘s get into it!

Don’t forget to download my rules & reference (and of course it’s also on Tabletop Codex), and good luck!

There’s something down here, it’s carnivorous.

Don your black leather and grab your Grimcoven rules and reference!

Awaken Realms are now a decade old as of this writing, and their astonishing success and huge creative output has not only made them one of the best publishers in the business, but the flag bearers for huge, over-the-top productions absolutely drenched in theme and atmosphere. A gaming style I’ve had a soft spot for since I bought my first big box Games Workshop games back in the late 80s.

Grimcoven continues the tradition of wonderful excess, but there are some interesting things here that break the mould a little and tell us that the company isn’t just resting on its laurels. First, it’s a boss battler in which you play one-off games – no overarching campaign here (though you can add a little bit of character development with the Personal Stories expansion). Next, there’s something about this game system that, as I was playing, made me think of that much-used word ‘elegant’ – and I can assure you that’s not a word I use often when it comes to Awaken Realms. Unlike their usual style of dense, many-step phases that you can never remember without a reference sheet close to hand, Grimcoven actually flows smoothly and cleverly from step to step (and where it does get a bit complicated, nice little standees remind you of the sequence of steps).

I’m very happy to see Awaken step back from the long campaigns which demand a commitment of months (and often seem end up in solo play mode as a result), and move more into one-off games and more manageable campaign structures (see Lands of Evershade). Not all of us want to leave a game set up for months, or wish to devote that much extended gaming time to a single game.

Grimcoven is packed with content – there are 6 unique hunters, and each of the 6 ‘big bad’ Griefbounds have 5 scenarios of increasing difficulty (plus combinations of elite enemies and minions), plus expansions give you 2 more hunters and 2 more Griefbounds. Then, if the hunters get corrupted enough, they unlock ‘Pretenders’ – semi-Griefbounds that you can also hunt. The game plays out on modular hexagonal tiles with various terrain setups, and special cards give the terrain even more personality. The dice allocation system that powers the hunters’ actions is nothing revolutionary, but it works smoothly and efficiently here, without all the dice modifier jiggery-pokery that slowed down ISS Vanguard.

And you want the system to be smooth, because this game does not go easy on you, and you have to fully concentrate on your tactics to beat your Griefbound of choice. The game demands careful cooperation between players for success, so this is one of the most engaging cooperative combat experiences I’ve had. Also, as your hunters collect lament (the power currency of the game), you can customise your suite of abilities and gain more dice as you simultaneously become more corrupted, which gives the game a lot of forward momentum. While the difficulty can be frustrating at times, there’s a great sense of wanting to come back and try again if you lose, and there are enough interesting choices to keep you planning what you’ll try next time.

I’m highly impressed by Grimcoven so far, but I have a few more games to play yet before my full review. In the meantime, download my rules & reference (also available on Tabletop Codex) and check out my full ‘boss pledge’ unboxing video, released tomorrow!

Get the Grimcoven Rules & Reference

I gave my word. I made a covenant.

Peter unboxes the top pledge of Lands of Evershade, the new hybrid RPG/board game from Awaken Realms!

I’ve been very lucky to be the recipient of the generosity of Awaken Realms lately, who have sent me some amazing stuff to cover on the channel. Recently ten years in the business, the company is going from strength to strength, churning out some really great games with absolutely peak production values.

Case in point – the PRG-meets-board game Lands of Evershade, which not only looks gorgeous, but has been receiving rave reviews. And the design isn’t just about pretty pictures and extravagant bits; they’re some very clever component design here, especially in the character board designs and cases that preserve your character from session to session. Check it all out in this comprehensive unboxing video!

Stayed tuned for more folks – a rules & reference is of course in th works, and they’ll be a video review a bit later down the pipe!

I’m just a man who’s good at what he does. Killing.

Control Solid Snake with your Metal Gear Solid: The Board Game rules and reference!

Popular game publisher CMON has been having a rough time of it post-tariff-idiocy period, forced to sell of their most profitable IPs and stop new campaigns, but to their credit they really did seem to hunker down and concentrate on getting promised crowdfunded games out to backers while slowly rebuilding the company. I think I’m even getting my Dune: Arrakis expansions soon, finally.

Metal Gear Solid: The Board Game is one of their underrated gems. I played the original computer game way, way back when, but these stealth and action mechanics are so solid, and feel so good, they could have been attached to any similar theme. The bonus for Metal Gear Solid fans is that the scenarios follow the first game’s beats so closely, which supplies a fun nostalgia hit. And like a video game, the scenarios introduce rules and new situations as you go, so you’re not overloaded from the start.

This game is nicely produced, plays smoothly (despite a long-winded and badly organised rulebook), and just works. Stealth mechanics are hard to get right sometimes, especially when you add patrolling guards and security cameras into the mix, but MGS nails it. In between there are some fun boss battling segments that use a deck of custom behaviours to give the antagonists personality. Apparently the crowd-funded version came with a comic book which fleshed out the scenarios, and it is missed here, but you can easily live without the bonus big walker miniature.

In the end, I’d trade one really solid, fun, well-designed game like this for shed-load of useless Zombicide and Marvel-themed plastic crack, but that’s just me. Definitely recommended!

Get the Metal Gear Solid: The Board Game Rules & Reference

We should have gone to the beach like I told you

Peter unboxes and talks about the new Reichbusters: Reloaded – and showcases his fully painted set!

Let’s have a good look at the new Reichbusters: Reloaded upgrade set, my painted miniatures from the original set, and explore the million-dollar question – is it better than the original game now?

You’re in it now, up to your neck!

Infiltrate the Third Reich with your Reichbusters: Reloaded rules and reference!

I spent a lot of time and money on the original Reichbusters: Projeck Vril. Painting all those miniatures was a huge job, which is why I was very relieved when Monolith bought the property from the crashing-and-burning Mythic Games and promised a new version with better rules. The original version suffered from a fiddly, clunky ruleset that bogged the game down in the second half and frustrated more than entertained. Could Monolith provide a game worthy of all those characterful miniatures?

Well, it cost me a lot more more money to get it of course, but thankfully they did. I’m very happy to say that Reichbusters: Reloaded is finally a fun game that I look forward to playing. It’s not perfect by any means – after the alarm goes off there’s still a lot of enemy wrangling to do – but it no longer feels like a game of two separate parts, one fun, the other not. Instead of constantly fiddling about with noise rolls, you have a pretty good idea how long you can get away with your team killing bad guys before the alarm goes off and all hell breaks loose; and once it does, controlling them isn’t quite so onerous and you still have a very good chance to fulfil your objectives and get out. I also love the way the objectives have been broken into three levels of difficulty – not only can you decide to go for a more difficult objective on the fly if things are going well, but extra objectives increase replayability by incentivising a return to a scenario armed with the knowledge gained on earlier playthroughs.

Thankfully, all the fiddly little tokens have completely gone, replaced by item cards and clearly laid out character reference sheets. In fact, this version is so well done I find myself looking at the original and wondering “what were they thinking?”. Probably something like “that’ll do, we’ll fix it later with an upgrade pack at huge expense”, which is no doubt one of the reasons Mythic went bust.

But enough of the past, Reichbusters: Reloaded is now the fun, frantic, silly, Nazi-bashin’ and alien-shootin’ game I always wanted it to be, and all those many hours of miniature painting were not in vain. Thanks Monolith!

Get the Reichbusters: Reloaded Rules & Reference

One does not simply walk into Mordor.

Peter and Will are back with their most famous style of battle report – a War of the Ring one! Beer, laughs and banter ensue.

One day, when the Esoteric Order of Gamers finally comes to its natural end and all about it and concerning it is forgotten, one thing may be remembered – the battle report videos documenting games of War of the Ring between myself and my old gaming buddy, Will. It‘s been quite a while since I’ve had the opportunity to film one, but the day has finally arrived! So grab yourself your beverage of choice, get comfortable someplace where you won’t be interrupted by any non-gamer who just might not understand, relax, and enjoy this hugely fun new session of my favourite board game, War of the Ring!