Yesterday I bought a couple of boxes of Diskwars, a new miniatures-tile-collectible hybrid from Fantasy Flight Games. I had read in this group that the rules were pretty simple and I thought my kids might enjoy it as a simple miniatures type game with a fantasy theme. It is pretty simple (though situations can get pretty complex).

I played dwarfs and my 7-yr old son (Paul) played the dragonkin. We took ~50 point forces and tried to take and hold (for two turns) an objective in the middle of the table, equidistant between us. I lined up the dwarfs in line of battle, with 3 stalwarts (very tough defensively) interspersed with crossbows (long range missile fire), with some regular foot guys on my flanks. This seemed properly dwarf-like and actually worked pretty well.

Paul arrayed his stuff in a rough sort of wedge, with fast flyers on the flanks. We both advanced until I managed to get my stalwarts on the objective, backed by a line of crossbows about 4" behind them. Paul waded in with his foot and had his flyers go overhead and pin the crossbows (quite a nice move on his part as it took them out of the action for most of the game). We then spent the next few turns moving for advantage in a huge melee centered on my stalwarts. Those guys are enormously tough to defeat and over time all of Paul's guys got wiped out.

A fun time was had by us both and I was impressed by how the rules seemed to give a good "feel" for what was being simulated. After the game we discussed different strategies Paul might have tried and he's eager for a rematch. I also think I'll handicap him some points and if I take the slow but sturdy dwarfs again, might try a scenario that doesn't reward staying power so much.

Thoughts on the mechanics: Attacker and defender are determined by which disk is flipped on top of which. Topmost is attacker, disk underneath defender. This neatly reflects who moved their disk into the fight (i.e. who charged whom). However, this can lead to very complicated situations when multiple disks are involved. The bulk of the combat rules are dedicated to helping you understand how to unsnarl such free-for-alls. As I understand it, the rules are: (1) Resolve battles from the top down. (2) A unit can only attack once, but can be involved in any number of defenses.So if A attacks B, then C attacks B. B vs. C is resolved first. If C injures B, but is not itself killed, their fight is over. B then attacks A, but with any damage that it suffered at the hands of C.

As you can guess, a lot depends in this system on who moves when, as the balance of power in a fight can shift as late-comers pile on at different levels. Fortunately, the system allows for semi-simultaneous movement -- each player activates 3 units in turn (rather than one side moves all of their forces, then the other side moves all of their forces). Anyway, we had fun with it. It was relatively quick and simple, but still involves "realistic" seeming tactical considerations (i.e., the different types of units behave differently and should be used differently to win).

I am annoyed that it's collectible though. There's no excuse for that other than maximizing profit.

Diskwars Collectibility