I went all in on this game during the Kickstarter because I loved the idea of having all the Greek gods and heroes come to life on a tabletop. The random card mechanics of the turn, along with dice rolling and ability casting, all made me very interested, then the artwork pushed me over the top to get into the game. While the model quality is a small step behind my games workshop collection, I’m still very satisfied with how they look. The artwork lived up to my expectation and really enhances the experience. The cardboard 3D terrain is actually a lot more visually pleasing then the unpainted plastic trees and columns I received, and the boards are all diverse and attractive enough to enhance the gameplay as well.

Gameplay is quick and provides a fun experience. You never know what cards your opponent has in their hands, so your not sure what units heroes and gods they are going to activate early in game, later on you can guess what they have in their hands based off who has already activated. The combat mechanics are probably my favorite aspect of the rules. A combination of key words, talents and unique abilities along with standard stat lines ( movement, attack, def, etc) make for a rich experience where every hero or god plays the way you would imagine they would in real life. The griffon is a fast moving flyer who you want to get stuck in quickly because he gets free retaliation strikes when he’s attacked ( instead of spending one of his command cards to retaliate as other units must). Poseidon stays back until the enemy stacks up around an area, the surges forward and hits three surrounding areas with a huge tidal wave that damages and pushes back all opponents in those squares ( very powerful but also expensive to play). Achilles is a beast in melee, while the herecles can pick up and throw the 3D terrain at his enemies. Troops provide you a disposable force that can be resummoned indefinitely by their gods, and can provide decent utility especially when buffed by leadership powers of gods and heroes. Sirens allow you to pull units off a square, several units can protect more valuable units by obsorbing damage through the guard ability; other units can fly onto objectives, claim them for their god then fly them back to be captured without you having to risk sending a more expensive unit to the fringes when they are needed in the middle. Between the scenario and skirmish options, replayability is very good, especially if you get a hold of some of the expansions to add onto the core box.  Honestly, I’m not sure if I would be content with just the core box having experienced the game with the sheer variety provided by all the expansions.

My  main criticism of the game is the rules writing. It may take several readings to understand how the rules work since they use mechanics that are unique and a bit hard to conceptualize at first. The dice mechanic really tripped me up at first, However I can say with confidence that once you’ve played a few games and learn the lingo and ability interactions, it suddenly all clicks into place, and the rules feel less like an obstruction, and are instead a framework which allows you to look at any character card and figure out how that character plays on the board. The dice mechanic is a risk reward system that allows you to combine results to go for a couple  wounds, or to take a chance on rolling your dice a 2nd time and maybe getting even more damage. It really is a cool mechanic once you get your head around it. The card mechanics for activation ensures every game plays out differently.

I don’t regret getting this game, and I fact was so happy with the quality of this product that I also bought into the companies next big kickstarter ( Joan of arc). I’m also looking forward to mythic battle ragnorok, so I can start getting some Greek vs Norse mythology battles in the future. Fingerless crosses that the company continues this line into Egyptian,Chinese, European and maybe even American folklore in the future. I may lose some serious shelf space in my home, but if the quality of this product remains the same or improves, then it will be well worth it.