Harry Potter - Board to Tabletop

I jumped into the Harry Potter Minatures Adventure Game (Knight Models) during the pre-order last March, as my daughter is a big fan, but not too interested in tabletop gaming (though Burrows & Badgers ticks a box). Through a freight forwarder, I was able to get my shipment to Canada (game was only initially licensed for release in Spain, UK, USA). There was a bit of delay for the two hop shipping, but I still received my Hogwarts Pack bundle before many, if the posts on the Knight Models Facebook page are to be believed.

The Hogwarts Packs was not the all-in bundle and contained the core game, Dumbledore’s Army, Slytherin students, Weasley twins, Troll Adventure pack as well as as some pre-order exclusives – Dobby, Kreacher, Filch & Dumbledore. A good assortment of characters, focusing more on the students of Hogwarts instead of the wider wizarding world.

As seemed to be a common problem, the packing was not great. The core box was missing legs for Harry, Ron and two Death Eaters while having an extra upper torso for both Harry and Ron as well as an extra acromantula. The minis are resin and a few had broken components, which were fairly easy greenstuff fixes. Replacement parts from KM were rumoured to be a months-long prospect, so with some timely guidance from Michael Lovejoy in the Projects system (Burrows & Badgers sculpting – that man is a craftsman!) I set to making Harry and Ron whole again.  Several attempts allowed me to get servicable legs built on a wire framework that ended up sort of to scale. My sculpting ability is slightly above worm and snowman level, but not too far.

Then it came time to try the game … It’s … not bad. The spell mechanics are interesting with a countdown timer and thematic effects. Other aspects are a little clumsy with the use of the various quest and adventure cards. My biggest concern was the boards. While they are filled with familiar Harry Potter imagery, they are too generic and don’t evoke a sense that you are in any specific location referenced by the scenarios. After a few lacklustre games, I was thinking of how to break the game free of the board.