Michael W. Kaluta, Craig Hamilton, Bernie Wrightson, Matt
Sturm, Brom, J. O'Barr, Tim Bradstreet, Richard Kane Ferguson.
These names alone should encourage you to go out and collect Heresy, the new CCG from Last Unicorn Games. Without a doubt, it is the most beautiful game that the industry has ever published.
The cards are magnificent, and consistently magnificent. Continuity was a consideration in the assignment of the pieces, making decks of similar elements have similar artists. The Art Director deserves big kudos.
The background of the game is researched thoroughly. For those familiar with the Kabballah, Dead Sea Scrolls, Greek and Celtic lore and myth, you will not be disappointed. Cards such as Wotan's Hall, Tir Fo Thuinn, and Ophaniel Chief of the Cherubim show just how familiar the guys over at Last Unicorn Games are with world mythology.
This is a sophisticated game designed for sophisticated players...and that may be its most significant drawback. The type of audience is very limited in the gaming industry, which may keep people from playing it.
The World is so complete that Heresy screams for a role-playing game. The folks over at Last Unicorn have hinted that there's one in the works, and I'd be willing to bet that if the card game is successful, we'll be seeing Role-Playing in the Forsaken Ear
Well, I've pretty much dronedart and the background and now the big question for all you harout there: How does it ac
In Heresy, you play one of Host, Fallen or Otherwise, who Earth in the last days to sor (Apocalypses can be messy). You again "tau" (energy) to open a gate athat big manna gate in the followers. You gain tau by attackingrivals control. If successfully, yo the city or dra
You have two types of tau generating cards: Domains and Arrays. Domains are cities in the real world, and Arrays are artificial cities in the computer generated reality of the Matrix.
At the beginning of your turn, you may play one Domain and one Array. You can also play characters that go out and kick angel butt for you, but you have to play them onto Domains or Arrays, you can't have them just wandering around. Characters (Hosts and Heathens - or, Angels and the rest of US) can launch attacks from Domains to Domains or Arrays to Arrays, you can't cross cultures here. Some Characters can "jack in" and "jack out" of the Matrix, and you use the Arrays to store the energy you collect from Domains you've attacked. When Hosts (again, angels) attack cities, they can carry heathens along with them,, but they get big, bonuses when they don't.
There's rules on movement between Domains, and Miracle cards can help you pull some real rabbits out of your halo.
Angles can also call Aereopagus votes, although there doesn't seem to be much of a benefit to the action. Many of the title cards that you get from a successful vote only get you more votes, although a duelling system between angels is there, though any can back out by "flipping" (a kind of super tap that's also used in Atlas Games' On The Edge).
I've played more than a dozen games of Heresy, and so far, none of us in our group has used the Aereopagus votes. We may be missing out on a vital part of the game's strategy, but so far, we just haven't found a need to use them, yet.
Despite the ease of play (I only needed to read the rules twice, and that's saying a lot - I never got the hang of Magic's complicated timing rules, etc.), there are two aspects of game play that frighten me: There is no minimum to the cards you can put in your deck. Even though you do lose when you run out of cards, there are plenty of cards that allow you to re-shuffle your deck with your discards. I've used this on many occasions to build the nastiest little deck. It's scary, but I suppose we'll eventually find a way to shut it down.
Heresy is a beautiful game--art and style. The system is simple enough, although the terminology will be difficult to the general gaming public. Ever since the publication of Aria (another Lat Unicorn game), I've gained a considerable respect for these guys, and Heresy is another feather in their caps.
LATE BREAKING NEWS:
PROJECT DEMURGE: THE FIRST EXPANSION FOR HERESY IS EXPECTED IN JUNE '96. IT WILL ADD AROUND 100 CARDS TO THE SET, EMPHASIZING UBER-MATRIX CARDS, USEFUL POWERS, AND MIRACLES. IT WILL ALSO REFLECT THE STORYLINE PRESENT IN THE UPCOMNG RPG, FOR WHICH NO RELEASE DATE HAS YET BEEN ANNOUNCED.
From Last Unicorn Games, starters $9.95 and boosters $2.95
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