Good "Shooter" implementation

The game is set in an indefinite future on the planet Sera. For many years people lived in peace until the day, which became known as the day of arrival in the story and to the crawled reminiscent of the chaos beings creatures of the Locust Horde from the depths of the planet. Like the locusts, after which they are named, they fell upon the countries of the KOR, the coalition decent governments ago. Billion people were killed. After all, people put an even weapons of mass destruction against its own Städe to be the plague Lord in vain.

In Gears of War, which applies to the console like the board game, you take on as a player a soldier a small group of commandos who compete as a last resort of humanity against the Locust Horde, and in the ruins of their former home to the survival of humanity fight. Therefore Gears of War The Board Game is a cooperative board game therefore, allows up to four players to compete in the team against the mechanisms of the game itself. It is a struggle which may be influenced by early victories, but reckless one must not therefore be. A game game is harder and harder with every train, and only if you act tactically and also the necessary bit of luck on your side, you go at the end of the winner, instead of bleeding to death crawl away from the hordes of Locusts.

The game begins with each player to one of the four commandos (Marcus Fenix, Augustus Cole, Dominic Santiago or Damon Baird) chooses and takes its special weapons. Of course, there are all known from the console game and popular weapons like the Lancer assault rifle with his chainsaw, the Boomshot -Granatwerfer or the hammer burst assault rifle in the Arsenal (the latter two do not belong to Start equipment, but are dropped by monsters). Then one of the seven possible emissions is selected. The missions vary in length and complexity and attack from the motives that are known from digital brother. The game plan is generated using a random mechanism, so that even the repeated playing of a mission always prevails a slightly changed tactical starting position.

A turn always consists of three phases: Healing, giving orders and activate Locusts. In healing the active player must draw two cards from the command command deck. Here, the hand limit of (usually) six cards must not be exceeded. The command cards to be used in the grant phase commands to perform actions. You can either use their printed text or use them a flat rate for a movement of two fields, or an attack. In addition, the active player may discard one each hand card at this stage, to carry out up to three different promotions once each: a COG soldier revive accommodate a dropped from the Locusts weapon and / or activate on the board itself lying around equipment, in other words also record.

In the upper left corner have the further command maps an icon that allows different reactivities. With Securing can disrupt an attack or a movement of Locusts and carry out an attack immediately. Dodge granted two additional defense dice in combat. Follow enables a soldier, a second during its play chase when the same starts from its own field or passes this. All this naturally tempts one rauszuhauen command cards. But be careful: The phase in which we must take cards is, not without reason healing. The command cards provide both the health of the soldiers. That is the fight against the Locusts you lose by hit another card. And if the damage exceeds the remaining cards in hand, so you drop below zero, the soldier falls out. He bled to death and takes only a very limited part of the players until someone revived him. Are all such soldiers off, the game is usually lost.

In the Locust phase a map of Locust AI deck is finally pulled that pretends like act the monster. Emergence of new on the board? Do they move? Attack them? All this is described (often triggered by if-then conditions) on the drawn card. In general, the Monster acting this pretty smart. You run for cover when they can always attack the weakest opponents and move specifically to the KOR-soldiers. Here their combat data are not so bad. In defending the Locusts are rather weak, but in attack they are able to hand out vigorously. And in the crowd they put the players ultimately pretty.

The fight will be contested with two dice rolls. The attacker uses the black attack dice, the player per weapon usually have two attack modes: a weak, the cost of ammunition, and a strong, which you have to spend a chronically scarce ammunition markers. (Ammunition may be found on the game board and win from dropped weapons.) The defender rolls the red defense dice that are fundamentally weaker than the attack dice. The difference between the results symbols and shield icons is added in wounds. One side of each attack cube shows a so-called Omen symbol. This triggers special effects that generate most additional damage. Fighting in Gears of War are dirty and very painful.

It is nice that numerous mechanisms to the board game reminiscent underlying console game. Of course, include the brutal attacks of the Lancer chainsaw, the common advancement via sequences and the excessively used cover system that is really vital, because the soldiers by themselves usually only have a defense dice while the cover offers up to two more. Even the random drop of weapons or the revival by comrade feels very much like (team-oriented) computer game on.

The game material that comes in a weighty box, can really be seen. The Schedule parts are printed from solid cardboard and beautiful, the playing cards have cool artwork and the miniatures are truly spectacular detail for a board game part. However one can probably expect, since the price of the game is not without just under 60 euros (recommended retail price).

Conclusion: Who tactical shooter such as Doom like the board game and happy cooperative playing against a game system, which is the right place for Gears of War The Board Game. While it is possible that a level a little tough gets going, but no later than halfway the game is crisp and quite exciting. The excellent material does play its part to generate a sense of apocalyptic action on the living room table. The only thing that I personally pity is the fact that some boss monsters not own miniature was granted. Instead you have to rely on one of the normal figures. And the running time of 1 to 3 hours is as so often recognized yet rather low at FFG products. Depending on luck, play and mission I hold 2 to 5 hours is more realistic.

A "ring messengers" -Rezension.