WizKids Torture Gears of War Fans
Epic Fail!

At last we see Gears of War coming to the tabletop, I’ve been a big fan of the video game from day one and have always believed it would make a good miniatures game.

However I was sorely disappointed when I realized WizKids had the license for Gears of War 3. I could hear a million voices cry out it pain “hell no Cliffy B what have Epic done!” and sure enough I was bitterly disappointed with the miniatures, I mean look at what they have done to Marcus Fenix what a load of (let’s say dogs dinner)!

Oh and other characters like Dom have fared no better, getting the fully loaded HeroClix treatment with a soft sculpt and paint job by elephants with 3 inch brushes.

If your 8 years old, you’re sorted out! There’s the perfect range out there for you to re-enact the curb stomping, gut wrenching 18 certificate gorefest, that is Gears, even though you probably shouldn’t be playing it in the first place.

Now where does that leave the rest of us?

Fantasy Flight Curb Stomp WizKids
Epic Win!

Well in step Fantasy Flight Games with the Gears of War Board Game which actually looks great. Here’s a rundown of what you get in the box.

• Over 30 plastic figures
• Over 200 cards
• 35 Locust AI Cards
• 17 Double-sided Map Tiles
• Nearly 75 tokens and markers
• 1 Mission Reference Sheet
• 5 Attack Dice and 4 Defense Dice
• 1 Line-of-Sight Ruler

Let’s talk minis... these Gears sculpts look much better, with interesting details and crisper looking casts... without a paint job that looks like clown makeup!

The FFG site says there are over 30 figures and it will be interesting to see what the range is. At the moment we can see 8, but I’m sure there will be more as the pictures don’t yet show characters like Augustus Cole (AKA Cole Train) who we know is in the game.

Moving on to how it might play, I first thought of Gears as a wargame, but now I’m sold on the idea of a board game. If you think about it, when you play gears it is like a board game with a relatively linear route. Your character moves in and out of cover points, triggering water cooler moments as you go. Also, it’s great to see the likes of the Berserker in the photos, as I think its actions in the video game will translate well into the world of tabletop with it charging about the board flattening anything in its way.

From Fantasy Flight Games: “One to four players take on the roles of COG soldiers cooperating to destroy the Locust horde, and must work together to complete missions against an ingeniously challenging and varied game system. In Gears of War: The Board Game, you’ll relive classic moments from Gears of War™ and Gears of War 2™. Roadie Run into cover, spray your enemy with blind fire, or rip him in half with your Lancer’s chainsaw!”

Now a biggie for any Gears fan is the environment in which the action takes place. The video game is a glorious feast for the eyes, with a fantastic style and if FFG can deliver even just a sense of that on to our tables, I think they will have a winner. Already I’m excited by the photos of the tiles, which capture the look of the game, with 17 double-sided tiles in the box (that’s 34 in total), it should look smashing.

I think the Gears of War Board Game has great potential and I look forward to growing range, which the site indicates are on the cards as they have a page ready for more Gears Products. Let’s face it; it would be a crime not to have a plethora of expansions for this game, from more tiles to new minis. Perhaps they might even release enough minis over the next couple of years to make your own good looking wargame!

I’m going to make sure we get a copy of the board game for a full video review in the future, but until then I will continue to drool over it and recoil in horror at the sight of HeroClix.

Here’s the link to check out for more info:

FFG Gears of War Board Game Site

BoW Lloyd