Beyond Thebes Review by Count Zero

Indiana Jones always made archaeologists look good, and now its your turn to be Mr Jones. Thebes brings archeology to the games table in a light but fun way. Players each play the part of an archaeologist spending up to three years researching, digging for artifacts and put on exhibitions, all in the quest to get the most victory points and win the game.

Opening the large box you get a playing board depicting Europe and some of the middle east. This is nicely produced and features the 5 cities where you do your researching (London, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Moscow) and the 5 locations for your digs (Crete, Greece, Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia).
A stack of cards depicting exhibitions and knowledge improvements as well as a couple of other types. 5 cloth bags, 1 for each of the dig site. A host of counters depicting treasures and artifacts as well as dirt. Some wooden figures and markers and finally 4 time wheels that have to be punched out and put together.

Setting up the game is pretty simple, all the tokens are put into there respective bags and placed to the side. Each player takes a coloured adventurer and places him on the Warsaw location and a matching coloured marker goes on the outside time track.
The cards are shuffled and separated into three stacks. The exhibition cards are then placed in these stacks and they are finally all stacked on top of each other. The top 4 cards are placed on the board in a marked area.

These cards are vital to the archaeologists, they show a number of bits of information. At the top is the location on the board where this card can be found. Also, how many weeks it will take to get this card and finally what the card gives the archaeologist. This is generally knowledge of a particular dig site. Its all colour coded to make life easier. So for example you may see a card with a yellow book on it, the top would read London, 2 . This would mean that if the archaeologist travelled to London and spent 2 weeks there he would take the card and it would give him 1 knowledge point of Egypt.
As well as the colour specific knowledge cards for the 5 dig sites, there are also general knowledge cards that provide knowledge for all of the dig sites. These are highly sought after, but they cost much more in time to research them.
Other cards give the players assistants that must be collected in multiples to give knowledge bonuses, shovels that give dig bonuses, several transport cards that cuts down the travel time for players, finally there are rumour cards which are like the book/research cards but are one use only.

After the board is setup players can perform one of three actions, they can either travel to a city and spend the time required to pick a card, travel to Warsaw and swap the 4 displayed cards for 4 new ones or finally travel to a dig site and perform a dig. Whatever is chosen italways takes time, and this is recorded on the time track around the board. Time is a big factor in the game and it also determines the playing order. Whoever is behind plays next. In some cases this allows a player to take multiple turns. For example if player 1 decided to spend 10 weeks in Egypt looking for artifacts he moves his token on 10 weeks plus the travel time to get to Egypt. This gives player 2 a number of weeks to play his turns until he is inthe lead on the time track. So he could go to London and research some knowledge on Crete for 2 weeks, then move on to Paris for 4 weeks of research on Greece.

When you decided to visit a dig site and look for artifacts, this is where the luck part of the game comes in. You count up the number of knowledge points you have on the location, this can be made up of specific and general knowledge as well as from other bonus cards. This value is selected on the dig wheel, this will display a column of numbers. You now need to scan down the column looking at the number of weeks you are spending digging, this will give you a value. This is the number of tokens you can pull from the locations bag. Any artifacts you keep, blank or dirt tokens are put back in the bag. It may sound a little tricky, but the mechanism works really well. The luck factor can be a pain, after spending 10 weeks and drawing 10 blank tiles you know you have wasted a huge chunk of the year.
There is a limit on the number of digs you can do a year, its one per location. This is enough as you will generally not have enough time inthe year to continually dig for treasure.

About half way through the card stack exhibition cards will start to be drawn. These represent a location and again the number of weeks required to win the card. They will also depict a number of artifacts that the player is required to own in order to put on the exhibition. There are only 10 of these cards in the game and as they are one of the revenues of victory points they are always sought after.

After 2-3 years of hitting the books and digging in the deserts the game will end and its time to add up the points.
Players get points for the artifacts that they have found. For the exhibitions they have put on. Congress cards give points depending on the number you own and finally the player who has the most specific knowledge in each site gets bonus points. The player with the most points wins.

For the main Thebes is a pretty light game, its fun to play without being too much of a brain burner. Luck plays a part with the digs, but half the fun is rummaging around in the bags looking for those elusive artifacts. The game is put together very well with great pieces

Summary

Presentation
This is a very well produced game. Queen games have used quality components, the bags and wheels add to an already theme oozing game. 9/10

Clarity of Rules
The rules are pretty basic and quick to learn. You should be up and running after a quick read 8/10

Game Length
The game length is altered depending on the number of players, but on average a 3 player game takes about an hour and a half 8/10

Value

You get allot of game for your money, its well worth the price tag 8/10

Overall
Thebes is a great game and one that I think would make a good gateway game. The luck factor has given it some bad comments on the geek but if you can handle a bit of luck then add it to your basket now (8/10 not an average)

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Rulebook Review

With this Second edition by Black Industries, one of the most respected RPGs has been completely reborn.

The original WFRP was a cult classic. Famed for its excellent career system, its grim and dark work, its emphasis on role-playing, and its lethal combat system, it was played by many until its last publishers, Hogshead, went out of business.
Now, finally, the game has been brought up to date with a second edition, the first in twenty years. And what an update.

For those who have never played WFRP or its tabletop counterpart, Warhammer Fantasy Battle, fear not. There is plenty of background information and an introductory adventure in here to get you started, and even more adventures are freely available on the Black Industries website, so you don't need to know the setting before tou start- which is quite a feat, considering the amount of published information about Warhammer's Old World.
For those veterans of the first edition, fear not. None of what you love has been removed, except possibly the 'peasant' career. But almost every aspect of the game has been completely reworked- and all for the better.

Character creation is an entirely random process- you're allowed to choose your race and gender, and everything else- from your starting characteristics to your career to your eye colour- you get to roll for. The careers are worth special mention - your character can start as anything from a hubmle rat-catcher or a simple grave digger to a wandering duellist or imperial soldier, and progress to be a mighty wizard or gladiatorial champion. And actually, thats fun. Sure, it means some characters are weaker than others to start with- but as previously hinted, in WFRP, the emphasis is squarely on role-playing, and by the time you've got some experience, you'll soon work out that everyone in the group has their own important role to fill... even when it comes to combat, which is the meat of many systems, let’s be honest.

Combat is actually pretty simple. You have a % chance to hit based on your characteristics, and if you hit, you just roll a D10 and add your strength. That’s how many wounds the target takes, minus any armour or toughness bonus. If he drops to 0 wounds, he starts to take critical hits until he eventually dies horribly. But you won't ever have a lot of wounds to spare- it’s quite feasible to drop a foe with a single attack, even from a humble sling. And again, that makes the game fun- your characters are not muscle-bound heroes- you're just trying to survive.
There’s a fun magic system too, which few characters can access without a lot of dedication, but which offers great power- and substantial risks. Failure to cast a spell can mean your wizard gets sucked into another world, the daemonic realm of the Warp, and if he’s not dead, then he's certainly insane.

What makes the whole system work so well though are its underlying mechanics. Everything in the rules *makes sense*, which is a rarer thing than it might sound- if you're ever stuck for a rule, chances are you can work it out pretty easily, because every part of the mechanics follow a central logic that’s really easy to grasp for both players and GMs, and never becomes too complex or cumbersome for the game to run smoothly- and never feels too simple, either.
WFRP turns out to be, overall, a stunningly put together game. Its productions qualities are top-notch, rivalled only by the excellent content on offer here. WFRP is well worth a look for any fantasy role-playing fan, especially those looking for something that’s maybe a little darker and a little more daring than the standard D20 fare.

Summary
Presentation: A tough hardback cover with some lovely artwork that’s marred only by the cheesy text on the back cover houses a lavishly presented, full-colour book with a wealth of good quality artwork. 9.0/10

Clarity of Rules: The rules follow a core mechanic that’s simple to grasp but allows the game to be flexible and varied enough to withstand long campaigns. They’re also presented in a very logical format, so it’s never too hard to find that rule you’re looking for. 9.5/10

Value: With a character career system that spans everything from rat catcher to noble and expansive career advancement options, you’ll not run out of things to do here. The main rulebook really does contain everything you need to play any type of character in the Old World- supplementary books add further options, but there are no glaring omissions here. The GM’s section is a little sparse, particularly on world background, but the inclusion of an intro adventure helps things along. 8.9/10

Overall: WFRP has always had a special place in many gamers hearts, and this second edition is head and shoulders above the first edition. There’s no excuse not to step into the grim world of perilous adventure now. 9.6/10 (not an average)

Reviewed by: splinter