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So, I almost feel weird asking, but how was Mythic Battles as an actual game? I ended up selling my 1.0 pledge without even playing it, but heard 1.5 was a significant revision.
Is the actual gameplay experience enough to warrant a look, or is this more a CMoN, "buy it for the models" allure?
NewTruthNeomaxim wrote: So, I almost feel weird asking, but how was Mythic Battles as an actual game? I ended up selling my 1.0 pledge without even playing it, but heard 1.5 was a significant revision.
Is the actual gameplay experience enough to warrant a look, or is this more a CMoN, "buy it for the models" allure?
Brilliant game, definitely in my top 5, maybe top 3 board games. Army drafting is fun, scenarios are interesting and there’s good tactics and synergies to use. Dice mechanic is a little different but once you’re used to it it’s fine.
Better than CMON. The game adds a hand management aspect, so you can't just move your troops across the board -- actually, you can, but this uses up cards which you might want to use otherwise.
Even if you do like traditional wargame mechanics, there's a Greek mythology rulebook that even has solo rules (think Twelve Labors of Hercules) somewhere around for $25 or so.
As for Ymir, iirc, he was a promotional figure back when Monolith thought it could run a MBKS in a reasonable time.
Yeah I think Mythic Battles is just plain fun. Of course it's very well designed as a game, the card activation works, the dice system works, the units can have lots of different abilities, yet it's not a headache to implement.
I got the 1.5 update and changed my cards around, but I had lots of fun playing before it came out. People on KS forums just get a bit ridiculous whining sometimes.
Fun fact. It's actually a much older game that Monolith bought the rights to and the original designer worked on the monolith version which used a lot of the same art.
I think that I can say with a decent level of confidence that if I was only allowed to keep one board game, it would be MB: P.
There's a ridiculous amount of variety due to the different units and maps. I'll never get to exhaust it all in the rest of my lifetime and that's just playing 1v1 battles, not even taking account of the dozens of scenarios.
The theme and backstory are right up my street and the vast majority of the minis look great - there's the odd duff one, but I'm really impressed with them.
The mechanics are engaging, too; whether it's the decisions that you make when you roll your dice pool, or your attitude to using your limited activations via the cards - sure, there's an element of luck with the cards you've got in your hand, but there's also the ability to mitigate that to a limited extent. It may look like you're in a sticky situation when your opponent has run a big bruiser in to your most sensitive area, but if they've blown through their activation cards to do it, that big, scary thing isn't going to be in a position to do anything except stand there.
I'm toying with the idea of getting Ragnarok, not because I need more expansions and variety, just because I'd like to see what the game is like with a Norse flavour slapped on it.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/02/19 08:24:52
I might keep an eye out for a secondhand set of Pantheon on eBay. I did back it but the makers decided to refund my money rather than actually get me a copy, because me moving house (and telling them) was too complicated for them.
Hrym While the gods and mankind wasted their time pursuing vain, childish occupations, the giant Hrym prepared for the end of the world in the shadows, building a ship to transport his armies to fight in Ragnarök.
painted, as I think it sells the piece more,. and scale shot. I really like it.
Spoiler:
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/03/05 19:26:41
It's looks to be on a 100mm base so maybe about 1/3rd the size in it's concept art but you've got to be practical as while I like the Joan Of Arc dragon that thing is a pain to have on the table.
Just got a chance to watch an unboxing of a prototype set here:
I have to say, that I'm more impressed than I thought that I'd be!
Just having tree models in there, rather than cardboard standees practically sold it there and then. It doesn't look like Monolith are half-arsing this one.
They had tree models for the first one, though it was an extra add on.
I've backed about half their KS campaigns and never felt they cut corners or didn't try to put out the best they could. There's always been translation issues due to Fred's views on those but I think Matt John has made Conan, at least, much better in English.
Also the KS starts first week of April, they had to delay I week.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/03/28 00:08:22
Yeah, I got the terrain pack for Pantheon. I'm not sure if I once used the cardboard terrain, especially the silly rocks.
I'm just impressed that they decided to include the trees and the Ragnarok version of ruins terrain in the base set; the engraving on the stones is a nice touch.
In a Conan KSer update Monolith has given an rough overview of what the Conan add on will be for this.
Sometime after the launch of Mythic Battles Ragnarok— most likely during the live campaign, but possibly during the pledge manager phase—we will offer an add-on that will allow you to use your Mythic Battles Ragnarok core set with Conan!
Because the Norse setting pairs so well with Conan, subbing in for the frozen reaches of Nordheim, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to give Conan fans more things to slay. Here’s what we’re proposing:
-The Conan/MBR expansion will offer heaps of tiles and hero sheets from the Mythic Battles Ragnarok Core game and its expansions. We will focus on characters and creatures that best fit the Hyborian Age setting in terms of aesthetic and theme. Please know, we will not risk sacrificing our adherence to the Robert E. Howard source material, but fear not, there’s plenty in MBR that fits beautifully into Howard’s world.
- The Conan/MBR expansion will offer new spells and equipment cards, suited to the frozen north.
-It will come with a scenario booklet containing 8 brand-new scenarios for use with the core MBR game boards (4 adventure mode scenarios and 4 solo/co-op scenarios).
-With this expansion, players will only require any version of Conan (including core/retail) AND the Mythic Battles Ragnarok core set. We will offer substitution options for older Conan material and MBR expansion material where appropriate/possible.
Huh, I'm a sucker for Conan stuff, even though I find the prices pretty outrageous compared to other boardgames.
Maybe the conan stuff plus ragnarok unlocks will convince me. It just hasn't grabbed me yet.
Members of the household are fans of Greek Mythology, so I'm tempted by Pantheon too. I just don't know if I need any more skirmish games or systems, and the Monolith edition stuff always being monopose bothers me.
I can understand the monopose complaint but it's not always (just mostly always). There are some where there's 2 (pirates, town guard in Conan come to mind) but it's not the norm as they would rather give more variety in units then do lots of multiple poses. It's a hard line to straddle as there are supporters of both approaches.
Price is always a subjective thing but I think callout it outrageous is a bit over the top (I'm assuming you're talking about Conqueror as the OG one was an amazing deal that just can't happen anymore if you want to actually not loose money which it did). $100 for the stuff in the spoiler plus all the maps and scenarios (where a lot of the cost goes) is perfectly reasonable. It's not amazing (especially if you only want the minis) but it's not outrageous either. And that's not including the MBP reprints they added as SG.
Spoiler:
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/04/04 03:26:48
I don't know, 55 PVC minis in 15 unique sculpts for $100+$30 shipping is pretty poor compared to other PVC mini boardgames. Especially for a Kickstarter.
Retail Zombicide Invader comes with 16 unique sculpts, 72 minis, plus a bunch of boards and scenarios and cards, etc. You can buy that shipped for $80 USD. I understand they won't compare to CMON who are the kings of that type of game on KS, but look at any other comparable game, and the content looks pretty poor. Look at what Blacklist can offer, or Mythic, or the studio that did Limbo:Eternal War, etc. etc.
Maybe not outrageous, but certainly "the worst value big boardgame with PVC minis" from my perspective. Replace the the IP with anything other than Conan and I wouldn't even come close to buying in.
But I don't want to get too negative. They make good games, which can make up for the 30-50 minis or so they are shy on value and they have decent art direction. As I said, I'm a sucker for Conan and have a few reasons I might back Ragnarok and Pantheon.
At the end of the day, I like the visual appeal of miniatures games, and so the high numbers of repeats and static poses are big negatives for me, but I'm trying to give them a fair chance.
I think that's a fair post. Conqueror has some very large minis that invader doesn't have in the retail box. So Invader is cheaper with more minis but Conan has more large figures for $20 more which is probably a similar amount of plastic for both games.
That extra $20 is Conan's big challenge for competing in price is the standard scenarios the game was originally designed around as they're a huge amount of work to create, playtest and balance so a lot of the cost is right there. The solo mode stuff Matt John created is much more akin to zombiecide and other similar boardgame scenarios where balance isn't as much of an issue but Monolith is very particular about making sure the original (vs mode) style of scenarios are fine tuned to be as fair to both sides as possible and it takes a lot of time and money. There's a post in Conan Gaming where Matt John talks a bit about the cost in hours for those and they're very absurdly high compared to what most other boardgames and wargames have. So if you're not into the game it can seam over priced as people don't account for the effort of those scenarios.
I'll be interested in seeing how MB:R does and what it's SG are as MBP was one of those amazing deals in cost and it really doesn't have the scenario cost Conan does as it will show what Monoliths post Conqueror mindset is . Conqueror was a very reserved campaign due to Fred's concerns about there being interest in the game still and the original loosing money so it was also paired down some to be low risk financially (but still probably wouldn't have been what you wanted). While MBP didn't loose money it didn't seam to make a lot (Batman is the only one that did) for the company.
This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2021/04/04 07:38:10
Yeah, I think it is more like a $50-$70 difference. The Zcide Invader Kickstarter absolutely came with more plastic and something like 10-12 big abominations.
Conan the Conqueror Kickstarter doesn't compare favorably to the retail version of similar games.
I think you raise a good point about the difficulty of balancing pvp scenarios compared to co-op games.
I think the skirmish game they tried to kickstart just failed due to poor marketing and a confusing Kickstarter.
Unfortunately, good gameplay is the hardest thing to market in a Kickstarter, and nice miniatures are one of the easiest. I think this explains a lot of Monolith's struggles.
For my part, there are more Conan scenarios already than I could play in 10 years. I don't need more scenarios, I need some alternative Pict models so the scenarios actually look good on the table...
11527pts Total (7400pts painted)
4980pts Total (4980pts painted)
3730 Total (210pts painted) 
