The Inside Scoop on Gaming

As soon as I heard about Mage Knight: Rebellion, I was intrigued. But I admit that I remained leary as to whether or not the rules would measure up to the innovative game concept. That doubt quickly dried up as I read the rules.

But first things first.....

What is Mage Knight: Rebellion? MKR is the world's first fully functional collectible miniatures game. Yes, you heard me correctly....a collectible miniatures game! As an avid miniature gamer and card gamer, I was pretty excited about this. We've already been exposed to collectible card games, collectible dice games and collectible disk games. But never a collectible miniatures game.

What You Get MKR is available in two different doses, much like ccg's.

Starter Set: This contains everything you need to get started (which, umm, I guess is why it's aptly called a Starter Set. lol). You get 10 random miniatures, a 12 page rulebook, a 28 page comicbook, a reference card, 2d6, an 18 inch flexible ruler and ID stickers.

Booster Pack: This gives you five random miniatures to add to your collection.

The Rulebook The rulebook is nicely organized, with no glaring mistakes. It reads pretty smoothly too, unlike most ccg books.

As for the rules themselves, well, let's get cracking, shall we?

The Combat Dial The base of each miniature (they call 'em warriors) has a combat dial built in. This is one of the most innovative features of the game system and it functions beautifully. The dial contains all the info you need to handle your warrior in the game. As your warrior takes damage, the dial is turned clockwise, which reduces it's overall effectiveness.

The warrior's stats are; Speed (how fast it moves), Attack (how easily it can harm an enemy), Defense (how well it resists damage) and Damage (how many "clicks" of damage it deals when it breaks through the enemy's defenses). Some of these stats are accompanied by colored boxes, which indicate various special abilities the warrior has.

Also on the base, you'll find some things that don't change throughout the course of the game, such as it's point value (for designing your army), Attack Range (how far it shoots in combat), faction symbol (which tells what group it belongs to), rank (which tells roughly how rare the model is), collector's number (an identification number) and markings to show the front and rear firing arcs.

Actions Unlike many miniatures games on the market, there is no traditional turn sequence. Each army receives a number of actions (1 action for every 100 points in the army) to spend. Once these actions are spent, the opposing army gets to spend his actions.

With each action, you can do one of the following things;

1) Move one warrior. 2) Ranged Combat, performed by one warrior. 3) Close Combat, performed by one warrior. 4) Pass. If you give this action to a warrior, he neither moves or attacks.

This creates a very fast pace and keeps the game from lagging. No more being bored while the other player works through all his turn sequence steps. I truly enjoy this feature.

Combat The core combat system goes like this; the attacker rolls 2d6 and adds his warrior's Attack value to the result. If this is equal to or higher than the enemy's Defense value, the attack hits!

If the attack is successful, the unfortunate victim must rotate his Combat Dial clockwise a number of "clicks" equal to the attacking warrior's Damage value. Once done, the new values shown on the dial are in effect.

If the damaged warrior's Combat Dial window shows skulls, the model is eliminated!

The Rest There's a lot of rule bits I haven't mentioned, including critical hits/misses, terrain, capturing enemy warriors, formations and victory points. But these are just icing on the cake....stuff that enhance a solid core design.

The Miniatures All the miniatures for MKR have a certain "cool factor". Somehow, they look and feel more like toys than traditional miniatures....they even come pre-painted (but you can easily re-paint them yourself) At first, this kind of bugged me, but I quickly grew fond of them.

Do they boast some of the best sculpting known to the gaming world? No.

Do they have top-notch paint jobs? No.

Are they cool? You bet!!

The Setting I find the setting to be a refreshing change of pace. It's well thought out, intriguing and open for later expansion. It was designed by the fellow who brought us two other detailed game settings (Shadowrun and Battletech).

Unfortunately, the setting info in the starter set isn't really up to snuff, IMO. Not that it was bad.....just vague. Most of it is presented in the comicbook and you really have to patch it all together to make it feel cohesive.

Fortunately, a visit to the WizKids homepage (www.mageknight.com) cleared up any ambiguities in the setting itself.

Popularity and Support It looks like WizKids has a hit on their hands. MKR is becoming immensely popular, with distributors selling out of merchandise left and right. Game stores are finding it difficult to keep it in stock.

And this hasn't gone unnoticed by the game designers. They are already planning new expansions and themed army packs. I don't foresee this game as being a fad. I believe it's a new contender in the ever-growing miniatures gaming market.

Final Thoughts Okay, I guess it's obvious that I like Mage Knight: Rebellion. I think the system is smooth, fast and full of strategic potential. Plus, it's pretty inexpensive to get into when compared to other miniatures games and ccg's. This is especially true if your local game store carries "singles" (i.e., out of the package miniatures).

So, in a nutshell, I think MKR is the next big thing. It has a fantastic set of rules, cool miniatures and has whipped much of the gaming world into a frenzy. I can't recommend this game enough!

In closing, I'm listing some of the best things about the game and some of the worst.

The Good:

Fast playing....most games take between 30-60 minutes!
Lots of support on the horizon.
The Combat Dial----innovative and fun to use.
Easy to get into. With pre-painted miniatures and convenient packaging, it's a breeze.
The lack of a turn sequence. Keeps the action fast & furious.
This is the first game that I've seen with "capturing" rules that truly work. Most games make it so that it's preferable to kill than to capture.

The Bad:

The rules for terrain are lacking in detail, IMO. They wanted it simple---and it IS---but I find myself wanting more.
Though they hinted at scenarios, there are none in the rulebook. As someone who enjoys different missions and such, I found this a bit annoying.

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

Mage Knight: Rebellion
Author: Jordan Weisman and Kevin Barrett Category: Miniature Company/Publisher: WizKids Line: Mage Knight: Rebellion Cost: Starters: $18.00, Boosters: $6.50 Page count: 12 page rulebook Capsule Review by Baby Cindi on 11/28/00. Genre tags: Fantasy	As soon as I heard about Mage Knight: Rebellion, I was intrigued. But I admit that I remained leary as to whether or not the rules would measure up to the innovative game concept. That doubt quickly dried up as I read the rules. But first things first..... *What is Mage Knight: Rebellion?* MKR is the world's first fully functional collectible miniatures game. Yes, you heard me correctly....a collectible miniatures game! As an avid miniature gamer and card gamer, I was pretty excited about this. We've already been exposed to collectible card games, collectible dice games and collectible disk games. But never a collectible miniatures game. What You Get MKR is available in two different doses, much like ccg's. *Starter Set:* This contains everything you need to get started (which, umm, I guess is why it's aptly called a Starter Set. lol). You get 10 random miniatures, a 12 page rulebook, a 28 page comicbook, a reference card, 2d6, an 18 inch flexible ruler and ID stickers. *Booster Pack:* This gives you five random miniatures to add to your collection. The Rulebook The rulebook is nicely organized, with no glaring mistakes. It reads pretty smoothly too, unlike most ccg books. As for the rules themselves, well, let's get cracking, shall we? *The Combat Dial* The base of each miniature (they call 'em warriors) has a combat dial built in. This is one of the most innovative features of the game system and it functions beautifully. The dial contains all the info you need to handle your warrior in the game. As your warrior takes damage, the dial is turned clockwise, which reduces it's overall effectiveness. The warrior's stats are; Speed (how fast it moves), Attack (how easily it can harm an enemy), Defense (how well it resists damage) and Damage (how many "clicks" of damage it deals when it breaks through the enemy's defenses). Some of these stats are accompanied by colored boxes, which indicate various special abilities the warrior has. Also on the base, you'll find some things that don't change throughout the course of the game, such as it's point value (for designing your army), Attack Range (how far it shoots in combat), faction symbol (which tells what group it belongs to), rank (which tells roughly how rare the model is), collector's number (an identification number) and markings to show the front and rear firing arcs. *Actions* Unlike many miniatures games on the market, there is no traditional turn sequence. Each army receives a number of actions (1 action for every 100 points in the army) to spend. Once these actions are spent, the opposing army gets to spend his actions. With each action, you can do one of the following things; 1) Move one warrior. 2) Ranged Combat, performed by one warrior. 3) Close Combat, performed by one warrior. 4) Pass. If you give this action to a warrior, he neither moves or attacks. This creates a very fast pace and keeps the game from lagging. No more being bored while the other player works through all his turn sequence steps. I truly enjoy this feature. *Combat* The core combat system goes like this; the attacker rolls 2d6 and adds his warrior's Attack value to the result. If this is equal to or higher than the enemy's Defense value, the attack hits! If the attack is successful, the unfortunate victim must rotate his Combat Dial clockwise a number of "clicks" equal to the attacking warrior's Damage value. Once done, the new values shown on the dial are in effect. If the damaged warrior's Combat Dial window shows skulls, the model is eliminated! *The Rest* There's a lot of rule bits I haven't mentioned, including critical hits/misses, terrain, capturing enemy warriors, formations and victory points. But these are just icing on the cake....stuff that enhance a solid core design. The Miniatures All the miniatures for MKR have a certain "cool factor". Somehow, they look and feel more like toys than traditional miniatures....they even come pre-painted (but you can easily re-paint them yourself) At first, this kind of bugged me, but I quickly grew fond of them. Do they boast some of the best sculpting known to the gaming world? No. Do they have top-notch paint jobs? No. Are they cool? You bet!! The Setting I find the setting to be a refreshing change of pace. It's well thought out, intriguing and open for later expansion. It was designed by the fellow who brought us two other detailed game settings (Shadowrun and Battletech). Unfortunately, the setting info in the starter set isn't really up to snuff, IMO. Not that it was bad.....just vague. Most of it is presented in the comicbook and you really have to patch it all together to make it feel cohesive. Fortunately, a visit to the WizKids homepage (www.mageknight.com) cleared up any ambiguities in the setting itself. Popularity and Support It looks like WizKids has a hit on their hands. MKR is becoming immensely popular, with distributors selling out of merchandise left and right. Game stores are finding it difficult to keep it in stock. And this hasn't gone unnoticed by the game designers. They are already planning new expansions and themed army packs. I don't foresee this game as being a fad. I believe it's a new contender in the ever-growing miniatures gaming market. Final Thoughts Okay, I guess it's obvious that I like *Mage Knight: Rebellion. I think the system is smooth, fast and full of strategic potential. Plus, it's pretty inexpensive to get into when compared to other miniatures games and ccg's. This is especially true if your local game store carries "singles" (i.e., out of the package miniatures). So, in a nutshell, I think MKR is the next big thing. It has a fantastic set of rules, cool miniatures and has whipped much of the gaming world into a frenzy. I can't recommend this game enough! In closing, I'm listing some of the best things about the game and some of the worst. The Good:* Fast playing....most games take between 30-60 minutes! Lots of support on the horizon. The Combat Dial----innovative and fun to use. Easy to get into. With pre-painted miniatures and convenient packaging, it's a breeze. The lack of a turn sequence. Keeps the action fast & furious. This is the first game that I've seen with "capturing" rules that truly work. Most games make it so that it's preferable to kill than to capture. The Bad: The rules for terrain are lacking in detail, IMO. They wanted it simple---and it IS---but I find myself wanting more. Though they hinted at scenarios, there are none in the rulebook. As someone who enjoys different missions and such, I found this a bit annoying. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)