I'm a fan of Runehammer games and this is really the first time I've felt like I wasted money on one of their products (or rather that it was entirely a donation to a great creator who I like a lot--but something I probably won't ever use).
What I expected was a mini wargame setting with some colorful armies with a few different kinds of units and maybe some general rules so I can take miniatures I own and stat them up to make my own armies.
What you get is a pretty threadbare generic system with movement measured in "pencils" and three different unit types that only differ by having a progressively bigger number of dice to roll for damage/hits required to kill them. Then for each kind of unit you get to pick a number of abilities off a two page list. There isn't any kind of balance to any of this, you're just encouraged to work together with the people you're playing with to figure out a way to make it fun for everyone. Exemplifying this mindset is a rule called the Emblem of Honor. You get to award this coin to your opponent if they do something cool in the game and it lets them reroll a roll. I like this idea of wargaming as a creative activity meant to be enjoyed rather than as a competative sport. The rules just don't seem to be substantive enough to really be worth the purchase--I can't see ever playing them.
Which brings me to the setting. I figured at the very least I'd get a neat setting with some different cool factions out of the purchace. The problem is they're all recycled from other products (mostly from ICRPG with the exception of the Xenothrax which are derived from XENO: Dead Zone -- which is basically just Aliens...not even reskinned Aliens, just the actual movie as a boardgame). So yeah, not really much there for me to get much use out of.
All and all, I'd call this one a loss. Which is a shame because I was really excited about it.
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