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Death in the Dark is a miniatures boardgame set in the world of Alioth - a fantasy world scarred by war. The Vampyre Kings once ruled all the land, and then the hordes of Saraband. Now an uneasy peace lays upon the land, imposed by the might of the Cabal - an organization of wizards that no race dares offend.

So, in lieu of war, the races of Alioth turn to something more profitable - the mining of Demon Ore in the Tantalean Wastes. Of course, anything worth a profit is worth fighting over - and the riches of Demon Ore are worth warring over.

Death in the Dark is about the fighting under the Tantalean Wastes by the Dwarves of the Flaming Forge and the Vanir. The Dwarves are not the usual race of short grumpy people that you might expect - no, these dwarves are gun carrying ("bümmers") business minded warriors. The Vanir you might have recognized as similar to Drow from AD&D - a dark shadow of the elves, and allied with the huge spiders that live and breed in the darkness. They are a cruel people who dare to defy the edicts of the Cabal - and resentful of any that invade the lands they see as their own.

The rules for Death in the Dark are based on the Universal soldier game system - a D6 based system which easy to learn and quickly resolved with minimal charts to look at. All weapons are assigned an attack class, with A being the highest and E the lowest, compared against a Defense value, with again A the best and E the worst. Check the chart; determine the number of dice rolled and the number needed to score damage. There are rule rules for ranged attacks, close combat - and even magic, where the Vanir excel. Also included are some very interesting magical weapons, like the Doombow and the Amulet of Leadership.

Gameplay is all played out on a modular board, which represents the areas of the mining operations of both the Dwarves and the Vanir. The game comes with 16 large square tiles with which to make up the map, and numerous walls and corridors to fill the underground with room and hallways.

The rulebook includes full army lists for the Dwarves, including everything from normal troops to a Flammjagers (flamethrower troopers), Grenadiers (carrying a spiegel shreck - or rocket launcher!) and even Dwarven Ogres. Likewise, the Vanir get their due, with Snipers, Assassins, Black Wind Rangers, the gruesome Web Gunners, and three types of viscous spiders. So, the stage is set for the Dwarves of the Flaming Forge to battle the Vanir, with the riches of Demon Ore as their prize. If that were all of the game, that might be enough for an average grade.

However, you get a lot more.

Death in the Dark includes full rules for building a complete campaign system for your battles. Whether you are looking to command a Dwarven Mining Company, or a Vanir group trying to protect their "homes" (and get rich in the process) - the full rules for creating forces, building a stronghold and basically working up a full campaign are included. There are eight scenarios included each with a great deal of replay because of the special conditions for them.

And a campaign would not be complete without rules for model advancement like skills and new abilities, wounds and such for game causalities, and even rules for buying things on the black market and trips to the wild and wooly city of Arkonis - where anything and everything is available for sale, and you'd better watch your back. Plus, here you can add to your forces with mercenaries - Elves, Reptiliads, Orcs, and Midnight Sun warriors all waiting for your money to join up your cause. As long as you can afford them, at least.

The elements of the campaign give Death in the Dark almost roleplay-like qualities. They also add huge amounts of things to the game and give it longevity - instead of one-off games; your gaming group will find themselves enthralled to a long-term campaign. After all, can't let those claim jumpers get to your ore. The boxed set also includes 24 miniatures - 6 dwarven Bümmertruppen, 1 Dwarven Sergeant, 1 Dwarven Flammjager, 1 Vanir Sorceress, 2 Vanir Warriors, 1 large spider, 2 medium spiders, and 10 small spiders. I've included scans of some of the miniatures painted; I'll let them speak for themselves. Except to say: they're QUITE nice figures, with a lot of character. Note the cigar that the Flammjager has clenched between his teeth…

Overall, I am very pleased with Death in the Dark. If I had to make any compliant, it would be the layout of the rulebook - the rules are easy to find, with a thorough collection of the charts in the back, but the all-important background information and "fluff" is scattered a bit far and wide for my tastes. This doesn't impact gameplay in the slightest; but it does make learning all about Alioth a bit of a chore.

So, if you are looking for a good miniatures game with a strong campaign and quick rules, check out Death in the Dark. It's joined my game collection and is in heavy rotation. Even though my friends are killing my poor Vanir…@#$@ bümmers!

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Death the Dark
Author: The Entire RAFM Crew Category: miniature Company/Publisher: RAFM, Inc. Line: Universal Soldier Cost: $59.95 Page count: 160 for the book Capsule Review by Robert E. Allen III on 07/31/99. Genre tags: Fantasy	Death in the Dark is a miniatures boardgame set in the world of Alioth - a fantasy world scarred by war. The Vampyre Kings once ruled all the land, and then the hordes of Saraband. Now an uneasy peace lays upon the land, imposed by the might of the Cabal - an organization of wizards that no race dares offend. So, in lieu of war, the races of Alioth turn to something more profitable - the mining of Demon Ore in the Tantalean Wastes. Of course, anything worth a profit is worth fighting over - and the riches of Demon Ore are worth warring over. Death in the Dark is about the fighting under the Tantalean Wastes by the Dwarves of the Flaming Forge and the Vanir. The Dwarves are not the usual race of short grumpy people that you might expect - no, these dwarves are gun carrying ("bümmers") business minded warriors. The Vanir you might have recognized as similar to Drow from AD&D - a dark shadow of the elves, and allied with the huge spiders that live and breed in the darkness. They are a cruel people who dare to defy the edicts of the Cabal - and resentful of any that invade the lands they see as their own. The rules for Death in the Dark are based on the Universal soldier game system - a D6 based system which easy to learn and quickly resolved with minimal charts to look at. All weapons are assigned an attack class, with A being the highest and E the lowest, compared against a Defense value, with again A the best and E the worst. Check the chart; determine the number of dice rolled and the number needed to score damage. There are rule rules for ranged attacks, close combat - and even magic, where the Vanir excel. Also included are some very interesting magical weapons, like the Doombow and the Amulet of Leadership. Gameplay is all played out on a modular board, which represents the areas of the mining operations of both the Dwarves and the Vanir. The game comes with 16 large square tiles with which to make up the map, and numerous walls and corridors to fill the underground with room and hallways. The rulebook includes full army lists for the Dwarves, including everything from normal troops to a Flammjagers (flamethrower troopers), Grenadiers (carrying a spiegel shreck - or rocket launcher!) and even Dwarven Ogres. Likewise, the Vanir get their due, with Snipers, Assassins, Black Wind Rangers, the gruesome Web Gunners, and three types of viscous spiders. So, the stage is set for the Dwarves of the Flaming Forge to battle the Vanir, with the riches of Demon Ore as their prize. If that were all of the game, that might be enough for an average grade. However, you get a lot more. Death in the Dark includes full rules for building a complete campaign system for your battles. Whether you are looking to command a Dwarven Mining Company, or a Vanir group trying to protect their "homes" (and get rich in the process) - the full rules for creating forces, building a stronghold and basically working up a full campaign are included. There are eight scenarios included each with a great deal of replay because of the special conditions for them. And a campaign would not be complete without rules for model advancement like skills and new abilities, wounds and such for game causalities, and even rules for buying things on the black market and trips to the wild and wooly city of Arkonis - where anything and everything is available for sale, and you'd better watch your back. Plus, here you can add to your forces with mercenaries - Elves, Reptiliads, Orcs, and Midnight Sun warriors all waiting for your money to join up your cause. As long as you can afford them, at least. The elements of the campaign give Death in the Dark almost roleplay-like qualities. They also add huge amounts of things to the game and give it longevity - instead of one-off games; your gaming group will find themselves enthralled to a long-term campaign. After all, can't let those claim jumpers get to your ore. The boxed set also includes 24 miniatures - 6 dwarven Bümmertruppen, 1 Dwarven Sergeant, 1 Dwarven Flammjager, 1 Vanir Sorceress, 2 Vanir Warriors, 1 large spider, 2 medium spiders, and 10 small spiders. I've included scans of some of the miniatures painted; I'll let them speak for themselves. Except to say: they're QUITE nice figures, with a lot of character. Note the cigar that the Flammjager has clenched between his teeth… Overall, I am very pleased with Death in the Dark. If I had to make any compliant, it would be the layout of the rulebook - the rules are easy to find, with a thorough collection of the charts in the back, but the all-important background information and "fluff" is scattered a bit far and wide for my tastes. This doesn't impact gameplay in the slightest; but it does make learning all about Alioth a bit of a chore. So, if you are looking for a good miniatures game with a strong campaign and quick rules, check out Death in the Dark. It's joined my game collection and is in heavy rotation. Even though my friends are killing my poor Vanir…@#$@ bümmers! Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Death the Dark