Michael Barnes replied the topic: #293683 11 Mar 2019 19:09

I guessed what this was correctly last week on Twitter. The tease images just added up. I made a joke about Sherlock Holmes being an “epic” detective, and lo, Holmes is coming in the “Cobble and Fog” expansion.



I’m down with this but I am way more interested in the literary figures than the licensed stuff. It looks great- the Mondo illustrators are doing excellent work with it.



However...the long term fail rate for this kind of mash-up game is spectacularly high. So I’m worried that we are looking at something that may very well start strong, but may falter. I know some of y’all are excited about Buffy, but that is not a license that sells papers, so to speak. So that is a lot of time, money, and other resources invested in a license that has a niche appeal. I’m concerned hat if this game becomes a clearinghouse for the kinds of flagging, inexpensive licenses that are popular in board games today it’s not going to go anywhere. Look, I love Bruce Lee but...who’s next, Chuck Norris?



But the thing is, the literary hero/villain thing is great! It’s a neat idea, and everybody is familiar with what the characters and what to expect- much like Star Wars. I want to play a game where Robin Hood squares off with Dracula- that’s my Mace Windu versus Darth Vader moment here. But do I really want to see Spike versus Hudson Hawk or whatever? Nah.



Regardless, the base game is a must have and I am very interested in what Mr. Daviau has done with the design after all these years. Epic Duels was good dumb fun that definitely could have been better.



I am wondering how this will compare to WH Underworlds, Wildlands, 40k Combat Arena, and other contemporary comparatives. I’d like to see this stay dumb fun with some mod cons.