I got Stoned - A Moonstone Tournament Report

What a great game this is. Moonstone captures the whimsical fantasy setting so well, the gameplay is unique, deep and very tactical.

Yet, even more than the solid game it gives you a sense of story a sense that you’ve just taken part in a fairy tale and helped tell your own bit of the moonstone fables.

Each game is different, the way the moonstones deploy makes the game different each time, you could play the same board layout, the same troupes and have totally different games based on the dropping of the moonstones and also what number they show.

The melee combat is fun and interesting and deadly, you cannot be certain even as the attacker that you wont die.

There is the card draw that does mean you can be a victim of bad luck, however there is enough abilities to draw more cards, melee ranges to think about, reaction steps to remember, all to help negate a bad draw, and even when you do get a bad draw, you are aloud to bluff!!! Brilliant!

The character in this game is possibly the most complete and amazing I’ve seen, it engages you, it draws you in and it keeps you wanting to explore more and try different troupes to see what there story will be.

Win or Lose in this game you will, but you will laugh and enjoy every minute of it.

The seutp of the boards was brilliant. Each round I played on a different board, and each round I had to play my Troupe totally differently.

Yes there is always going to be certain activations and abilities you do no matter what the terrain, but having a good terrain layout really does shine through in this game.

From a tournament perspective, it was a great idea to have boards of different types, and naming them within the world. One thing lacking was that the boards didn’t have the names on a little plaque or sign, so you did forget the lore of the board a bit.

The decision to limit the Troupe size to 5 was brilliant for me. It was really hard to limit what you wanted to take to 5.

Having it a fixed 5 was also good I think. It meant you had to take choices to cover a variety of opponents, so again forced to look at combos that might not normally get chosen.

As a tournament experience I loved every minute. The Venue was amazing, the game is amazing.

The people were amazing. Everyone was so friendly and so enthused about Moonstone. Each game I played there was laughter and friendly banter throughout.

Yes the current tournament setup could be exploited by power gamers but there was none of that on display here.

Everyone was there to have fun and enjoy the day.

The painting standard was really high too. The models lend themselves to allow mediocre painters like myself, to produce a good looking tabletop standard.

This has set the bar for me for Tournaments in the future, and it has set a very high bar.

I want a moonstone tournament every week please!