Travis R. Chance
United States
NYC
New York
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This game is highly detailed, beautiful, and fun. It's got some good elements of strategy, and the dynamics for turn-choosing are creative while the idea of using seasons to rule game play provides for realism, creativity, and chance. I also enjoyed how the game is based not so much on territory-gaining or enemy-slaughtering but on gaining "dragon runes." This meant the game never bogged down to a stale-mate because, sooner or later, someone was bound to get a card that would help them get the final dragon rune needed to win. Altogether the game is a fun and in-depth fantasy strategy game.
However, I found that it bogged down in the detailed rules. I only played through 1 full game, so (to be fair) I am still quite new at the game. But I was constantly flipping through the 30-odd page rule book looking for information on how to handle things from duels between heroes to gaining dragon runes to determining battles. If I could remember all the rules, it would have made our 5- to 6-hour game into probably a 3-hour venture. I can handle 3 hours, but 6 hours was simply too much.
I was also annoyed at how the game threw in two basically separate elements: heroes and armies. While armies can move every turn, the heroes only move one out of every four. Further, heroes can never join in a battle or be harmed by enemy troops; they simply run around searching for treasure and battling in duels. Should not a hero be able to join an army and help? The use of heroes seemed almost an add-on based on some guy's desire to have heroes rather than based on any need or purpose in game-play. Instead of being interesting or important for the game, the heroes simply complicated things with more rules to try to remember.
For people who have better memories, more time, or just plain like very detailed games, this would work much better. For people who want a one-hour war/strategy game, this is definitely not it.
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Barry Kendall
United States
Lebanon
Pennsylvania
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Please give it another try, building on what you've learned.
I taught it to two new players over their Christmas college break, and the second game we played (three powers out of four) took four hours from set-up to conclusion, with a couple of snack breaks.
The heroes become second nature very quickly; they go at the beginning of the Summer turn each campaign year, and they chiefly pursue objectives on cards. In our game we only had one duel between two Heroes and another between a Hero and a troublesome wizard (non-player) while seeking to complete an objective.
The game mechanics begin to fall into place as you become accustomed to the logic of the seasons, and random elements resolve very quickly using the Fate Deck.
SUGGESTION: Find a good sports card shop and purchase enough TOBACCO CARD HARD/SOFT SLEEVE COMBINATION PACKS to sleeve your entire Fate deck and the three special cards (I forget their titles) which Players can bid to control.
These cards come ten per pack with a hard sleeve AND a soft sleeve that just fits the FFG small cards and goes inside the hard sleeve. Do this, and your Fate deck becomes as durable as dominoes while still being easy to shuffle.
This is one of our favorite games and, in our view, a brilliant design which can draw the players into a narrative saga. It's the closest thing to playing a rich, multi-volume fantasy fiction series I've ever experienced, and that includes "War of the Ring" (though in fairness, WotR must cleave closely to a very well-known established saga, while "Runewars" can tell its own tale).
This is one of the ten games I will never, ever give up until my senile old fingers can no longer handle the bits.
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Sean Doubt
Canada
Vancouver
British Columbia
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Yeah, this is not a 1 hour game by any way shape or form or intention even. 3 to 3.5 hours is about how long our 4 players games take. It takes 2+ games to get the rules down, but once you do, I find it quite enjoyable. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I like to see how others view this game so I can know who I should ask to play with me among my friends.
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zoran
United Kingdom
London
England
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Get the expansion Banners of War, with it heroes can take part in battles.
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John Di Ponio
United States
Warren
Michigan
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Thanks for the tip on the hard sleeves Barry! I do agree with Barry on this one, its quite fun...do play it again! Things will fall into place much faster! I rarely have a game last longer than the 3-4 hour time frame. I am very interested in the expansion but haven't ordered it yet as I am waiting for another game to be released before placing an order.
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Russell Woodland
New Zealand
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I recommend the expansion from what I can see adds to the game in quite a few ways.
We felt the same way about the heroes and the armies, and the other one that got us was the fact as soon as you had the right amount of runes you just won.
The expansion makes you hold onto your runes for a full game turn I believe (4 seasons)
So it gives your opponents a chance to claw back.
Getting a copy of expansion for my Birthday 
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Chad Geister
United States
Michigan
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This is a game that my typical game night crowd enjoys.
A few things to keep in mind in regards to heroes:
1) They can move with a strategize order, but only into neutral or friendly territory (helps with the first turn or two, not a lot end game).
2) That tacked on extra phase (the hero mechanics) can actually control the game on its own. I've played the game with the initial hero only and a huge army that rolled my opposition. I also played with an army that fits around a campfire and three heroes that raked in treasure for me (and I had the title to trade 3 rewards for one dragon rune). Both emminently workable as strategies.
3) If you play the epic game (start with 1, go to 7, rather than start with 2, go to 6), the heroes really feel even more essential, as you need some extra dragon rune generation without stagnating. Outright war also becomes more prevalent when playing epic, cause you need to have more space to put all your runes.
The rules do come together in the end. Most FFG games I have can start out as a struggle to learn, but, actually have a reasonable flow once people understand what is happening. I'd suggest perusing the rules after each game to make sure things were done correctly. This makes repeat gaming much smoother, cause you know the pitfalls you tripped over.
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Sean Shaw
United States
Georgia
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Dungeons & Dragons: Conquest of Nerath Board Game has easier to grasp rules, less fiddly, and heroes that actually work better and are integrated better into the game.
On the otherhand it's more AT than Runewars and if you are more of a Euro type person than you'd probably hate it.
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Renato Bruno
Australia
Perth
Western Australia
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I played my fourth game of this a few nights ago (three player game using most of the bits of the Banners of War expansion - which I highly recommend) and we got the game finished in under two and a half hours (including set up and pack up).
The game is essentially a race to the most runes, and the winner got to six runes fairly quickly. This was mostly due to some lucky tactic cards, and very successful questing by heroes (there are new quest cards and cities that give you runes).
I enjoyed having a hero as a commander, using tactic/fate cards, and the new title was very useful for gaining resources. As expected of any FFG big box game, the expansion 'improves' a lot of the elements of the original game.
One thing that would have made the game a lot better for the group would have been to use the option to reveal six runes and then survive a year. I believe the game really shines in this tussle for leadership, and would allow a sneaky tactic card, or hero quest to break the to and fro this mechanic would create.
Persevere with the rules because many games of this size have a pain barrier of two or three games before you reach that 'A ha' moment when it all gels together.
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Craig Rose
United States
Walnut Creek
California
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cgeister wrote:
1) They can move with a strategize order, but only into neutral or friendly territory (helps with the first turn or two, not a lot end game).
Just a clarification, Strategize lets you move into an adjacent friendly or empty region. You can't use it to move into a region with non-allied neutral units.
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Scott Lewis
United States
Castle Rock
Colorado
Dread Our Coming, Suffer Our Presence, Embrace Our Glory (Solonavi War Cry)
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cgeister wrote: 1) They can move with a strategize order, but only into neutral or friendly territory (helps with the first turn or two, not a lot end game).
Apart from what Kelly says, I find that late-game Strategize can sometimes be immensely useful. If you know an attack is coming, but aren't ready to attack quite yet (or already did), Strategize can be very helpful in rearranging your troops in your areas. Or if you know your border will be attacked, you can move your troops back with Strategize, just leaving one in front - enough to prevent a second attack, while bolstering your counterattack army.
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Andy Pelton
United Kingdom
Hucknall
Nottinghamshire
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It also plays very well as a two player game, I taught a friend it last night and it was a great game, very tight. I won just (I was very lucky) as I took manged to get in his homerealm (which was undefended) to get a rune and also by luck won diplomacy to secure the last (I had been trying all game to win that hex via a spot of diplomacy
I have mainly played 4 player games, the 1st few games all had new players and because of that I did feel it lacked something. Since the last half of last year the same 3/4 players have been getting together for a game and after having a paradigm shift of what the game is a bout the pieces slotted together in my mind and I must say I love the game. The heroes are an integral part of getting runes 25% chance of finding a Timmoran Shard in the reward deck, can also help with finding a stronghold (lost city tatics) and gaining neutrals (flute of possession). I'm looking to try the expansion since that allows a hero to become a commander and take part in battles.
Also the exploration tokens add to the game as well.
Give it another chance It is at least a 3 hour game to play.
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