The Inside Scoop on Gaming

One of the highlights at the SPIEL 98 in Essen, Germany, was Carnage, the new miniatures battle game from Holistic Design. Carnage is a unit based fantasy wargame, just like that other one, but it's different. It's actually fast. And furious and funny and simple. A bit too simple maybe...

What you get for your money is a box loaded with plastic and a thin rules book on top. There are 96 miniatures in the box, infantry, archers and cavalry of two races, Brigandians (bull-riding human barbarians) and Herptars (lizard-riding lizards.) There are also cardboard standups for two mages and the flamingododo-drawn (!) cart of the Orb of Power, 10 dice and a number of connectable 4" measuring sticks. All in all there's everything you need to play, though I'm even now looking forward to the miniatures for the three standups. My fingers are itching to paint those flamigododos... The material is quite good, only the plastic miniatures have quite some of flash, are a little crude and don't fit in the bases very well. While the humans are standard, the Herptars are cool. That easy. Who doesn't want to play "Alligator infantry, Chameleon archers and pangolin-mounted Doom Geckos"?

Carnage is set on a chaotic world assembled magically by the Orb of Power. Inumerable realities come together in this place and that's how the two races that make up the forces of Carnage meet. Both are ripped from their home worlds and placed right next to each other on the World of Carnage. There you go: conflict. Easy, fun, open to possiblities (want to use your Warhammer armies? Go ahead!) and takes only a couple minutes to read.

Then there are the rules. 18 pages of simple carnage. The game is based on units and in that respect differs from the new variety of miniatures games like Warzone or Chronopia. The movement and striking rules are pretty much standard, but very quick and simple. Expect the slaughter to be short and bloody. What is striking is the absense of any psychology rules apart from the one that restricts units with less than a certain number of wounds from attacking. Also there are only few options for everything. Moving is moving. No sneak rules, no running. But then this game is not meant to work like that. The magic system has nine spells arranged in two schools and that's enough. Really. And then you have the Orb of Power that works its random magic on the battlefield. Using this you might find your carefully planned tactics spoiled. Too bad, eh?

Holistic Design have not yet planned any supplements for the game, but they are ready to push it, so if you like it, tell them and they'll probably do more for the game.

Now, all in all I'd say this is the perfect wargame for non wargamers. You can use it as a supplement for your favourite RPG or as a distraction from whatever you play every week. If you're a die-hard wargamer you might want to try it, but be warned, you might miss rules for whatever special tactic you are used to. The game is easy to modify, too. You might want to add spells and psychology and other rules and what you get is a very cool wargame. My opinion: Try it!

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Carnage
Author: Ziemagination Category: miniature Company/Publisher: Holistic Design Cost: $39 (est.) Page count: 24 Capsule Review by Thomas Schulze on 11/03/98. Genre tags: Fantasy Comedy	One of the highlights at the SPIEL 98 in Essen, Germany, was Carnage, the new miniatures battle game from Holistic Design. Carnage is a unit based fantasy wargame, just like that other one, but it's different. It's actually fast. And furious and funny and simple. A bit too simple maybe... What you get for your money is a box loaded with plastic and a thin rules book on top. There are 96 miniatures in the box, infantry, archers and cavalry of two races, Brigandians (bull-riding human barbarians) and Herptars (lizard-riding lizards.) There are also cardboard standups for two mages and the flamingododo-drawn (!) cart of the Orb of Power, 10 dice and a number of connectable 4" measuring sticks. All in all there's everything you need to play, though I'm even now looking forward to the miniatures for the three standups. My fingers are itching to paint those flamigododos... The material is quite good, only the plastic miniatures have quite some of flash, are a little crude and don't fit in the bases very well. While the humans are standard, the Herptars are cool. That easy. Who doesn't want to play "Alligator infantry, Chameleon archers and pangolin-mounted Doom Geckos"? Carnage is set on a chaotic world assembled magically by the Orb of Power. Inumerable realities come together in this place and that's how the two races that make up the forces of Carnage meet. Both are ripped from their home worlds and placed right next to each other on the World of Carnage. There you go: conflict. Easy, fun, open to possiblities (want to use your Warhammer armies? Go ahead!) and takes only a couple minutes to read. Then there are the rules. 18 pages of simple carnage. The game is based on units and in that respect differs from the new variety of miniatures games like Warzone or Chronopia. The movement and striking rules are pretty much standard, but very quick and simple. Expect the slaughter to be short and bloody. What is striking is the absense of any psychology rules apart from the one that restricts units with less than a certain number of wounds from attacking. Also there are only few options for everything. Moving is moving. No sneak rules, no running. But then this game is not meant to work like that. The magic system has nine spells arranged in two schools and that's enough. Really. And then you have the Orb of Power that works its random magic on the battlefield. Using this you might find your carefully planned tactics spoiled. Too bad, eh? Holistic Design have not yet planned any supplements for the game, but they are ready to push it, so if you like it, tell them and they'll probably do more for the game. Now, all in all I'd say this is the perfect wargame for non wargamers. You can use it as a supplement for your favourite RPG or as a distraction from whatever you play every week. If you're a die-hard wargamer you might want to try it, but be warned, you might miss rules for whatever special tactic you are used to. The game is easy to modify, too. You might want to add spells and psychology and other rules and what you get is a very cool wargame. My opinion: Try it! Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)