This is a preview copy sent to us for our early opinions. No money exchanged hands. Some art or components may change in the final game.
I have previewed this brilliant game here and reviewed the first full expansion here. It too is brilliant.
This second expansion is coming to Kickstarter soon. You can check the page for that here. This second expansion brings you more of you want you want. Four more fighters. This time round, all from the higher rolling walks of life. Lets look at each of them in turn.
Bossman
The Bossman is all about strength. Weak in almost every other area, this character hits hard. During setup, as well as separating the ultra card, you must also find and separate the Combo card. Later, during the planning phase, at any time you can play the combo card with any other played card. Then, if the card this is played with delivers knockback damage (which six cards do), then you can play the combo card with it, adding up to four additional movements and another hit with knockback. Juicy!
The combo card can be used just once this way, but can be refreshed and used again two more times by progressing along the Meter track. This leads to his character essentially standing around, swapping positions, moving the odd space, but mostly just pulling their opponent towards them and smashing them at fairly regular intervals. A brutal character to fight with or against!
Gamber
The Gambler is another all-around character but offers a huge unknown. Even you, when you control the Gambler, do not know exactly what you will do and when you will do it! During setup, take the three D12 dice, roll them, and set them by your player board. During the planning phase, when you play a card, you must place one of your dice with the currently shown number on the card. This then represents that card's initiative. That dice is then rerolled and can be used in the next round. Burn tokens also allow you to reroll any dice you choose.
The Gambler has a deck full of cards with the Mixup power, meaning they can be placed in any order you like. However, unlike other cards with this power, the mixup ability is only triggered for each card if the initiative is above a certain number. There are also certain actions on the cards that can only be carried out if the initiative is above a certain number, as shown on a number on the top left of the card. This creates huge variety with this character, and when you get the rolls you need, can create for a very powerful fighter.
Dancer
The Dancer is a highly versatile character, with some fascinating movement powers. During setup, take the Dancer's pole standee and place it above the fighter on the board. The pole can be thrown up to three spaces in front of you with certain card powers, and then you can use any pull action to move to the space the pole is currently on.
If there is an opponent in the way when you do this, and you move through them on your way towards the pole, you will inflict damage on them. It is an interesting way to fight and works in a similar way to Vee from the base game, who I believe is the Dancer's sister.
Magician
The Magician is another highly versatile character. They come with two identical standees, but you only place one during setup. Later, using the double act power in some of the cards, you can spawn your second standee to any position on the board. Place the identification markers with each one, but face down so your opponent doesn't know which is which. You can then use both standees as usual, but only you know which is the actual real Magician, with the hologram version immune to hits if your opponent attempts to hurt it. You cannot attack with your hologram, but it can do everything else. When your opponent attacks the hologram or tries to push or pull it, then their identity must be revealed. When both tokens are face up, the hologram has to be removed, but hopefully by then your mischief will have been made!
When the tokens are still on the board and both your standees are present, you can use Misdirection to take back the tokens, and replace them however you like. This keeps your opponent guessing, and makes this power incredibly useful at deceiving your opponent as to where you actually are on the board. A hilarious addition to the game.
This game is so good. And the more fighters it has, the better. If you are a fan of the base game, and have the first expansion already, I would suggest this is as close to a must-buy as any expansion has ever been. I think you will enjoy the variety these four new fighters bring, and I especially like the randomness brought with the Gambler and the dice.
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