Monday Game Reviews - Dark Age, Expanded

I've had some requests for a follow-up to my review of Dark Age from a few weeks back.  I think I captured a lot of meta information (what type of game Dark Age is, how it relates to other games) but didn't really say much about what Dark Age is about.  So, without further adieu, here's "What Dark Age is about":

Setting

Dark Age is set on a back water world rich in natural resources.  Moreover, many cliche evil corporation like this planet because its secluded from prying eyes.  Military experiments, slavery, chemical weapons development... all sorts of fun stuff is happening on this otherwise unremarkable planet.

Then it all goes bad.

The galaxy experiences the equivalent of the 2008 stock market crash.  As a result, corporations quickly abandon this planet; doing a half-assed job of covering their tracks.  Since life is cheap, many workers are stuck in this back water as ships are filled to the brim with top brass, military secrets, etc etc.  Its in this lovely predicament that Dark Age takes place; in a literal "Dark Age" of a planet (named Samaria by the survivors).

Factions

The Forsaken - Human survivors who take refuge in the major metropolitan areas of Samaria.  Since the crash, survivors have literally re-discovered religion, as the would-be rulers of Samaria quickly find a little hope goes a long way.  With a structure centered around relgious authority and military might, the Prevailers (the heart of organized Christianity) on Samaria quickly gain control of most of the human population.

Unfortunately for the city-bound Prevailers, several warlords on the outskirts of civilization also lust for power.  Starting with a cynical move made by a man named Mark, warlords on the outskirts of society start proclaiming themselves literal reincarnations of biblical Saints.  This presents a problem for the Prevailers; however, they deftly use the Saints to fight to protect and expand their borders on Crusades.  Currently, only 6 Saints are known: John, Mark, Mary, Johann, and Luke.  Saint Matthew existed in times past; but was slain by the Skaard and replaced by Saint Mary.  Speaking of which...

The Skaard - Mutant cannibals inhabitating the desers of the east.  Formerly a group of humans within Forsaken society, the proto-Skaard (called the Baniss) were banished from Forsaken society as they did not adopt religion after "The Crash".

On finding an industrial facility in the wasteland, the survivors bunkered down but were quickly ravaged by the chemicals within the facility (previously a military base researching chemical weapons).  The survivors of these mutagens were fundamentally changed, but physically and mentally.

When Saint Johann was banished from Forsaken society due to his practice of Grafting (adding mechanical enhancements to living beings), he retreated to the desert and joined forces with the Baniss, officially forming the Skaard.

Several clans of Skaard exist, though only the Toxic and Blood Cults are available for play.  These cults have predilictions easy enough to determine by their names, so I won't waste time explaining further.

Dragyri - Aliens on Samaria to mine energy containing crystals.  Originally, the creatures now known as Dragyri were genetically engineered slaves used to mine crystals.  After the crash, the remaining "Leader" aliens were quickly overrun by their slaves and pressed into slavery themselves (lulz).  The new ruling Aliens (called Dragyri by the Forsaken due to their resemblence to biblical dragons) quickly organized their society around hunting an honorable duels (think "Predator culture" from Predator 2).

Dragyri background is currently under a significant overhaul due to the edition reboot, so we'll all find out more when Apocalypse is released.

The Brood - Genetically engineered soldiers in a very early stage of development.  Initial growth in foot soldiers was progressing well, though the "thinking" organism was getting the majority of developments work.  After "The Crash", the scientists involved intended to cart The Brain organism off-world.  Unfortunately, in their haste, they allowed The Brain to slip off their transport and remain on Samaria.

Initially, the brain organism tried tirelessly to improve her soldiers and find a way off world.  However, as the facility she was housed in quickly began to shut down, the brain organism decided to merge with its local environment in an attempt to kill itself.  Unfortunately, it survived but was driven insane in the process.  Now the "Brood Mother" creates abberations by crossing DNA of Samaria flora and fauna.  After a brief encounter with "The Creators" (Saint John's forces), the Brood Mother has decided that humans are weak and must be destroyed.  An admirable goal, really...

Outcasts - Bandits and miscreants who raid Forsaken facilities.  Basically, humans who aren't Forsaken or Skaard.

******

Without getting into specific mechanics, I hope that fleshes out Dark Age for some of you.  If you have any specific questions, hit me up in the comments.

Monday Game Reviews - Dark Age

Dark Age Games' Dark Age (link) skirmish game has been released for almost 10 years and is still going strong (despite having some bumps along the way). 

This is, undoubtedly, my favorite wargame.  Unfortunately, due to some hiccups in its production along with some quirks within my gaming group (explained below), I've had a bear of a time getting friends to play this.  That said, with a new edition on the horizon (allegedly dropping by Gen-Con) and a host of new models being churned out: Dark Age is in a great position to snatch-up fans of skirmish games who want something fresh and fans of sci-fi games who don't want to pay GW prices.

What's it all about?

Dark Age is a science-fiction skirmish game set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland in the far future.  Interestingly, its a post-apo game not set on Earth (so, unfortunately, no one's going to have that knee-dropping Planet of The Apes moment in Dark Age's fiction).

"Saint Mark is actually kinda a dick?  Noooooooo!!!!!"

In terms of setting, human society in Dark Age has rediscovered the Good Book (which, per the developers, isn't just the Bible) after society falls apart.  A number of individuals with err..  "entrepreneurial spirit" proclaim themselves the reincarnation of Saints.  Seeing as Society is run by what is essentially the Vatican (Space Vatican, henceforth), this causes some social unrest.  The Saints are used by the Space Vatican to fight off the myriad of nasty non-human threats on Samaria (the planet on which Dark Age takes place), including the Predator-inspired Dragyri, radioactive mutants, bio-engineered predators, and marauding non-believing warlords.

So basically, you're fighting for New Jersey in Space.

Howler says: "Let's Smoosh"

In terms of game mechanics, the game's an alternating activation game that uses action points (AP) to give flexible move/attack options.  Its D20 based with a compare-to-stats-and-roll-for-the-difference based system.  While being statistically different on the back-end, I find it feels a lot like Warmachine due to the compare mechanic and the rough feel of the probability distribution.

You're normally looking at 6-20 models per side.  Assuming you've already invested in paint/tape measures/dice, you're looking at a roughly $50 outlay for the rules (hardcover, two books for all factions) and ~$150-$200 for a good sized army with some extra options.

The Good

One of Dark Age's stronger points is that most of its art comes from Brom.  For the uninitiated, Brom was a very popular artist from the 90's who contributed a very unique style to a number of Wizards of the Coast's products, notably Dark Sun's original incarnation and Magic: The Gathering.   In addition to Brom, Dark Age has a number of other solid artists contributing to the game.  Like Infinity or Malifaux, this is a game that has solid production value.

Brom: umm.. yeah... That.

Dark Age has by far the most seamless skirmish game mechanics that I've encountered yet.  Overwatch?  Piece of cake.  Squad/individual activations without tripping over your own feet?  Done and done.   A small host of special rules interacting off of each other.  Done, questions answered frequently by their rules team via the web, and frequent and fresh FAQ.  Its tighter than Malifaux (and was tighter from day one), and that's saying something.

Also, the game has a solid "feel" to its mechanics.  The setting is akin to Fallout, and much like in Fallout, not everything works as well as its used to.  This is represented by a malfunction value on most ranged weapons: a chance that the gun not only misses but actually blows up in your hands.  Ability names range from sensible (e.g. - "Fire", "Tough as Nails") to cheeky ("Its only a Flesh Wound") without ever losing the tone of the setting.  For all of you who like to be immersed in their setting, Dark Age will let you do so without having its game mechanics jar you out of happy-fun-time.

Lastly, Dark Age has a brilliant, brilliant tournament system.  Rather than "control the geometry in the middle" or Malifaux's complicated scheme system, Dark Age gives each player a series of objectives to chose from.  The can range from "Place 3 objectives, blow them up" to "Kill the priciest thing on your opponent's side".  They're quick, they make sense, and they work.  At Gencon 2009, I had more fun playing in a Dark Age tournament than I had playing any other game all weekend (and this was the first drop of the Malifaux rules, another game I love).

The Bad

I wish I could say "Well, this they should change XYZ about their system", but all of my gripes from v. 1.0 have been changed in the new addition (sadly, I've been unable to get my group to play this because it was metric.  New addition is Imperial, so get ready for Dark Age, Haight!).  Honestly, the worst thing I can say is: Dark Age Games have had some baaaddd luck.

These bases were originally developed for Dark Age.  Hmmm... where have I seen them before?

 

From bad miniature casters to losing talent to other companies, Dark Age Games have always been *this* close to being the next big thing.   Convincing people to spend their money on a new game that always has starts/stops gets very, very hard after the first hiccup and I think Dark Age has suffered greatly for this.  Granted, some of this hasn't be maleficence of the part of others: Dark Age Games has missed their announced time lines more times than I can count.  That being said, I have some faith that times are, in fact, a'changing.

Dark Age Games is now run by the folks at Coolminiornot.com.  They've consistently put out new miniatures (check out the April 10 releases!) since the start of 2011 and have the book well in order.  Having chatted with Grafter (owner of Dark Age Games) at PAX East 2011, I've got a lot of faith that they're in it to win this time.  I sincerely hope that Dark Age can turn around its bad luck and become the Cinderella story of Gen Con this year (aptly, on their 10th anniversary).

Final Thoughts

If I could only play one wargame for the rest of time, it would hands down be Dark Age.  Unfortunately, most of my local wargaming nerds don't share this enthusiasm as there's a lot of new/shiny stuff out there that doesn't have a history of not delivering.  That being said, the changing of the guard internally will hopefully equal change of past history. 

To quote Dark Age's old by-line: Everything Dies.  Hopefully, including Dark Age's bad luck.