As with many CMON published board games the miniatures are awe inspiring. Blood Rage steps this up to a new level however with the inclusion of unique monsters that you can spawn onto the board. Four of these monsters are around 2-3 times the height of the normal warrior minis, dwarfing them in size. Independent of size is the strength that these monsters pose on the battle field. It may not offer the most strength but the Troll is my personal favourite. Despite its beefy presence the Troll only offers 2 strength in a battle. However, when invading onto the board the troll squishes any enemy warriors in a province. For the cost of only two rage you could remove up to four enemy warrior units from the board, presenting a great swing of dominance on the board.
There a number of strategies on offer in Blood Rage and players will normally go into the game with a plan but will find they must adapt to the card pool they get. This means from one round to another players may have to adapt what they are doing. One example of this is receiving a quest to have the most strength at the quest stage of the round in one province. To gain this bonus players would have to commit to keeping units on the board in a particular place, rather than going for the Ragnarök death bonus of points. This results in players having an advantage of unit numbers on the board in the next age but could see them fall behind on the Glory tracker.
As with any board game with a card drafting element it is key to explain every type of card in depth before playing. Some players may request to learn while playing but by simply explaining the types of cards before playing the time taken for the drafting stage is significantly cut and gets you into the action stage that bit quicker. The cards are nicely laid out so each type of card, Strength cards (red), Upgrade cards (black) and Quest cards (green), has a distinctive design. This helps players instantly recognise what they are choosing from.
The best example is the strength cards. They all have the same visual style with a clear number which you add to your total strength points when pillaging. Some have addition text below the number that are unique abilities, usually coming with either a + 0 or +1 to your strength score. This means players know exactly when the card will do, with only a small about of additional reading. This also highlights the concept of card drafting where you actively have to trading off between cards. Should you go for that +4 bonus that’ll aid you to win a fight or do you take a +0 that offers no help but comes with an ability such as if you lose steal 1 rage from the winning?
Blood Rage many will say is built for its full capacity of 4 players. This increases to 5 players as soon as the expansion is included. I agree that the game is phenomenal with 4 players yet I am still taken aback by how well the same mechanics fit a 2-player game. At 2-player the game will take around 60 – 90 minutes, with players newer to the game making it closer to the latter. For a full 4-player game though with players up to speed with the rules and it will still last to only the 90-minute mark. Partly this is down to the card drafting stage remaining around the same length, as it is all simultaneous. The action phase increase in length though, taking a good 10 minutes longer in total with each additional player. Note, this is 10 minutes over the entirety of the game not each of the three age’s action phases.
One minor complaint is that the card pool could be larger to provide more strategies and options. However, I would only recommend this as advanced rules or an expansion on the base game. Otherwise new players may get lost in the middle of what is best to go for, confusing and mixing strategies and coming away with a lesser experience. Often the same cards were snapped up at the start of a round. Normally these are the monster upgrade cards or strength battle bonus cards that offered the substantial benefits of +4 or more. The card size themselves could also be bigger, with them feeling a bit fiddly to hold as a hand of cards and while shuffling. I can see why the size was used though as if normal card sizes were used the player mats and the game tracker would all have to be readjusted and increased in size accordingly.
Blood Rage has instantly become one of my favourite games to bring to the table. It combines light version of several popular mechanics across different phases of the game. Surprisingly, not only does it work, without leaving players confused and the game feeling muddled, it excels at each of them separately and together. Are the miniatures needed to help Blood Rage be this awesome board game? The answer is no. Blood Rage would offer the same a great gameplay if players were moving tokens onto and around the board. This being said, the inclusion of the high-quality miniatures elevates the visual experience of the game to wondrous heights. Heights most board games simple do not reach.
[Editor’s Note: Blood Rage was provided to us by Esdevium Games for review purposes. The game currently available for purchase at 365 Games for £52.99]
