This is the Road to Hell Dorado
January 29, 2011 by dracs
All you fans of skirmish games out there, Cipher Studios has good news. The world release of Hell Dorado has begun!
Cipher Studios (makers of the critically acclaimed skirmish game, Anima Tactics) acquired the license to the game, from Asmodee Miniatures back in 2009 and have been tempting us with new models ever since.
But what is Hell Dorado? I hear you cry!
Hell Dorado is a heroic scale miniature skirmish game, set during the 17th century. The players control of a war band, who have travelled into the realms of Hell to explore, do battle, and claim territory. The members of these groups range from from simple fighting me to the daemons of Hell themselves and even Chinese Immortals... giving the player a diverse series of factions from which to choose their forces.
Although the rules started out in French, Cipher intend to release the game world-wide and we are assured that the release of the English rule book is immanent, but, for the moment, we'll have to make do with the English rules available in the starter sets.
So far, it's not clear whether Cipher have created a new version of the rules, or if they are just re-releasing those of the previous developers, but it's not the rules that have really peaked our interest.
On top of re-releasing the original models, Cipher Studios have come up with a number of new releases of their own. I think I feel the symptoms of some serious shiny syndrome here. Just take a look at some of these:
These models look fantastic and a full list of those currently available can be found on this page of the Cipher Studios site.
On the downside, I have heard that the game itself, at least in its last rendition, was somewhat poor. Whether Cipher Studios will be improving the game's short comings is yet to be seen.
If you have any opinions on these models or have any experience with the game itself, give us your comments below.
Do you think these models going to be the game's only highlight? Or is the game actually worth a shot itself?
BoW Sam
I know Hell Dorado well… It was a big thing in France. The universe is based on “What if, during the last crusade, a portal to Hell opened ?”… The factions of the game have one or two historical figures, fictious or not, people who have become famous in our history but turned out differently in this universe… The sculpts were made mostly by JAG (Jacques Alexandre Gillois, whose nickname is “GOD”, arguably the best sculptor in the business now) and Thomas David. They were also studio painters. Of course, the models were great, finely detailed, amazing in quality, little… Read more »
this game seems like it might be great. it sounds like a fantasy SoTR witch i like. but since it also reminds me of dantes inferno i might be giving this game a look
elro does put up a good point about the translations, but i hope if they do relese it again, they keep the french-ness of it alive.
i not sure about stat cards, but i dont play any stat card games any more.
I hope we can get some of these in the office as I would really like to give it a go, if only to see what it’s like. Never played a stat card based game before. Any one know any others that might be good and how stat card gameplay varies from other systems?
BoW Sam
Cipher are a great studio. Hoping helldorado makes a big comeback :o)
Looks like a lot of fun Warren do you think you’ll get a copy?
Here is the official french website, specifically the Downloads page where you can find the rules and stat cards in english as well as in french and other languages… Most of the site is in french, though, but not too hard to navigate and full of pictures.
http://helldorado.fr/telechargements/index.php
I’ll wait and see. Been burnt by French gaming before specifically Confrontation and AT43.
Thanks for the linky Elromanozo
For some reason the ones Sam popped up have the dreaded redX
I am very fond of Anima Tactics. Both game system and models, with a few exceptions.
The Helldorado minis look amazing, and am sure Cipher will be more than capable of maintaining the quality.
Guys, this is one hell of a game (pun intended). To my taste, this is probably the best skirmish game out there at this moment. I’m quite confident that Cypher will make a great job with the rules set. And of course those models are awesome in every sense of the word, I really can’t wait to see what they come out with on the brand new sculpts. Give this one a try, it’s totally worth it!
The old english rules; http://helldorado.fr/ressources/telechargements/telechargement_id19/fichier.pdf
Also find stat cards here http://helldorado.fr/telechargements/index.php
I bought a bunch of these minis when they first came out (luvverly jubbly)…… and then spent ages waiting for the English cards and rules.
Not too sure whether I’ll find many opponents though, since they take religion very, VERY seriously over in these here parts (Malaysia), and certain elements of the rules and background could make this game a big no-no……. even more so than Infinity, for which we had to introduce shop-rules where the Haqqislam faction had to be banned (no choice).
I’m still looking forward to it though…….. hehehe *evil grin*
I’ll take issue with one part of this article. The rules for this game were some of the best skirmish level rules I’ve ever played with. Yes, if you’re unfamiliar with alternating activations it might seem strange to you, and the fact that most combats are simultaneous takes some getting used to, but the the amount of tactical choice and variance! Superb. When you finish a game, you really sit back and think about the choices you made in the game, not your list composition or the dice rolls you blew. The rules are also uncomplicated enough that I have… Read more »
looks like another game (along with anima tactics) to add to my want list