DowntimeTown Episode 6: Chaos In The Old World
August 29, 2009 by Robert
Filed under Board Game Reviews
It’s a brand new episode of DowntimeTown, an extra-long bit of banter about the brand new Fantasy Flight release Chaos In The Old World. It’s a game that’s NOT EVEN OUT YET in most places, and we’ve already played it and played it.
Ryan getting his Tzeentch on.
Check it out vimeo-style below, and be aware that there are some flickering images of demonic corruption throughout:
DowntimeTown Episode 6: Chaos in the Old World from Robert Florence on Vimeo.
Great review. I’m really interested in checking this game out. When is it released?
If you’re in the UK I think you can order it now. Some online board game sellers have it ready to roll. In the US I believe it’s next week.
Ya dancer! A wee trip into Manchester is due methinks. This and Space Hulk in one week! What days we live in!
One hell of a review!
While of late I’ve kinda fallen out of actually playing Warhammer I still love the backgrounds, I had been noticing word of this game coming up but I’d not really heard what it was like.
So yeah I was expecting a dice fest, and being one of those people who seems to have offended the dice gods at some stage in this life or a past or future one that’s usually not a good thing for me.
The review alone really has sold me on it, now to gather some people to defeat while sitting on my throne of skulls.
I love to bits that you’ve gone into board game reviews of late Rab.
Oh, I have to get me one of those….
Strawberry flavour, aye? Or was it chocolate? The photo might’ve been a bit faded…
Ace review.
Great work again Robert. Nice to see you sporting a maple leaf!
I once thought I saw Ryan at Partick station on my way to board gaming. This is like a dream come true for me.
Is it strictly 4 players only or can you get away with less?
Three or four players. Three plays fine.
Well, got this on the table last night, 4 players, and I have to admit I was a little underwhelmed (and I was expecting so much after that review!) I saw glimmers of a great game in there, but it has a problem in that you’d really have to play 3-4 times with the same people to start getting the most out of it – so players know each other’s Chaos cards and have the information to know how to counter player strategies – and I just don’t have the ability to get a game to the table that many times in a row with the same players.
It would probably be fantastic if you had a regular group of 4 with the time to get to know it, though I found the Chaos cards with their tiny rule exceptions a bit fiddly, the phases where you go through the regions checking for domination, corruption, ruination etc sometimes tedious, and the scattering of various tokens, cards, and figures on each region could be confusing.
The theme is really, really, well implemented however. And I do find myself looking forward to another game. It’s just hard to get the same 4 players together repeatedly.
Sorry to cast some a bit of a pall on the enthusiasm – I was impressed, but it does seem to demand more dedication than I have available these days. So many games and so little time!
UH, it’s definitely a game that benefits hugely from player experience. I don’t see that as a negative, though. Too many games these days actually start to fade as players get used to the loadouts and strategies. With Chaos, you can see that with regular players learning their characters’ strengths and weaknesses, the game’s only going to tighten up and become more dramatic.
Having said that, I sat down with a first time player last night and she rolled over the top of everyone else. I told her (Joanne) to have a look over Tzeentch’s cards first to get an idea of what she might end up with in her hand. Of the more experienced players, two of us played poorly. I certainly did. I was Khorne and I focused too much on pinning Slaanesh back from his dial advancement, while Nurgle and Tzeentch ran unchecked. I knew exactly why I lost. Nothing to do with luck, or bad draws, or bad rolls. All to do with bad player.
If any game is worth trying to pin down a regular group for, it’s this one. Hang onto those glimmers of greatness you saw – that’s the true face of Chaos in the Old World. Hopefully you’ll drop back in and let me know how it went with a few more plays under your belt.
Yeah, I can really see that. It’s just a matter of having the time and players. If it could play 2 player, I’d have the chance to explore all the possibilities, but 4 player games are harder to get happening – especially with the *same* players.
Slaanesh does seem to be the easy win for beginners. Since we didn’t really know what was happening, our Slaanesh player just happily sat in several areas with Noble tokens, moving his dial up at ligntning speed!
And I really must mention those *ridiculously* fragile Cultist figures. What were they thinking!
Picked this up this weekend and I’ve only played through a game on my own, like the sad act I am, but it looks like this could be something good. Roll on the weekend for a crack at this and forcing as many people to play Space Hulk as possible.
One complaint about CitOW, all the minis are a bit deformed. I’ve not got a single straight cultist pole (snicker), and my Bloodthirster falls over because of a warped base. Doesn’t stop the game being good though.
so – it is any good with less than four players? Like some others here, I am a fair way away from my normal gaming gang (er…..10,000 miles) and so can’t get the magic 4. Two maybe, three if I am lucky…
Excellent review. This looks like it rocks. Um… except you’ve just convinced me to spend some more of my hard earned money on yet another boardgame. The wife will be so delighted…
Friend grabbed CitOW at a store after reading this review and we had a game yesterday, even got it reasonably right ruleswise (I think).
In short, we had a blast, Slaanesh won via dial though Nurgle reached 50 VP the same turn, all in all 7 turns were played and Bretonnia, Estalia and Tilea ruined by the dark powers.
Rules are straightforward, we even had a (non-nerd) wife play Khorne since we could not get four of the old-time Warhammer players together yesterday, and it worked with the Bloodthirster keeping the rest of us out of the Empire most of the time… so all said and done a fun game for the all of the family!
You rock, man.
Robert… your reviews are starting to cost me a bit of money. I picked up CitOW this week and got a chance to play last night. We played 3 three-player games in less than 5 hours. What a blast! We then played democratically played the missing 4th player, trying to play his role as best as possible. It took a bit longer, but I can’t believe how much fun we’ve had playing this game. I can’t wait to play again!
My only real gripe with this game are the figures, the minions of each Chaos god. I had expected better quality.
While I can understand someone being underwhelmed with the game at first, Robert makes a legitimate counter-point that the game “benefits hugely from player experience”. The first time I played Khorne… I screwed up and had tried to play him more like Nurgle (who I had played a couple times previously). Each players cards are different and the more familiar I became with them, my strategies started to change.
Incredible game. I’m very satisfied with my purchase!
Just played this for the first time – very impressive. I think that maybe Nurgle has a slight advantage overall…….