This is a rather tough review to write, not due to any problem with the product, but rather the nature of the product. In a more traditional fantasy wargame, I could review an 'army book', discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the troop types, the degree to which special rules for the army were appropriate and balanced, etc. Diskwars, however, is a collectible system. Attempting to review a single army set, without having all the disks of that faction, is rather like attempting to review a single color of magic in Magic: The Gathering. Nevertheless, I will attempt to evaluate the strengths of the 'core' army in relation to other Diskwars army sets (at least the ones that I own), as well as a Dragonkin army expanded with some of the other disks available.
One caveat: The Diskwars set sent to me is first edition. The first edition Dragonkin set is now out of print, and has been replaced by the revised edition. Two of the basic disks were revised, resulting in slight alterations to the rules. I looked up the revised rulings on the Diskwars website, and will refer to the revised disks in this review.
First, a brief introduction to Diskwars. For those of you already familiar with the game, feel free to skip down to the next paragraph. Diskwars is a tabletop fantasy wargame. I hesitate to call it a ‘miniatures’ wargame, because rather than ranks of metal or plastic soldiers, Diskwars uses circular disks, rather similar to pogs. Each disk features a picture of the troop type it represents, and contains all the information pertinent to that troop type. This includes the amount of damage it can dish out on the attack, the amount of damage it does when defending, the amount of damage it can absorb before taking a wound, its movement rating, as well as any special abilities it might have. Movement is done by flipping the disk end over end a certain number of times. Combat occurs when your disks overlap or are overlapped by enemy disks. There are also rules for missile fire and spells. All in all, a unique and rather elegant game. More detailed reviews of the system itself can be found here,
here, here, and , here .
It is important to note here that in addition to the various factions of disks, disks are also separated into three alignments, Good, Neutral, and Evil. Also, in order to cast spells, you need a spellcaster character.
So, what do we get?
The Dragonkin Army Set, like all Diskwars army sets, is a small flat box, featuring a rather foreboding amber eye glaring at us from amidst a twisted mass of inhuman blue flesh. Inside, we find 8 ‘flats’, as the cardboard pieces holding the disks are referred to. Four of these flats contain the core Dragonkin army, three are random flats of other disks and spells, and finally there is a ‘components’ flat, containing action markers, arrows, fireballs, etc. The Dragonkin ‘core’ disks include the Dragonkin staging area (an exceptionally large disk, in this case depicting a mountain with dragons flying by), four Drake Warriors (basic infantry), a two Ballisters (ranged attackers, launching Fireballs), two Dragonflights (flying attackers), and two Drallus Worms (fast, heavy infantry), as well as several miscellaneous spells. The random flats included several disks from the Orcs, Undead, Acolytes, Uthuk, Elves, and Knights factions, as well as a couple of non-aligned disks that can be used by any army. Unfortunately, no other Dragonkin disks were in these flats.
What sort of army could we make from what we’ve got?
Well, if we look at the Dragonkin disks alone, we’ve got 48 points of Dragonkin. No spellcasters, unfortunately, and all these disks are of the Evil alignment. On a relative scale, 48 points is a fine point level for teaching someone the game. However, when you get into the system, your armies will get a bit larger. In tournaments I’ve played in, point values average around 150. I’d say that 100 is a good comfortable size for an army, low enough to keep you from using the most expensive disks in your collection, but large enough to give you a few options. When you get over 200 points, things start getting unwieldy.
Let’s break the troop types down individually.
We’ll start with Ballisters. Now, Ballisters are pretty decent troops. They are the basic missile troops of the Dragonkin, able to launch 2 fireballs at opposing disks. Fireballs are substantially more powerful than the standard Arrow, doing 4 points of damage rather than just 2. Their stats are Attack 2, Defense 4, and Toughness 3. Most basic missile troops are 2 2 2, so Ballisters can defend themselves pretty well against attack, and possibly survive a hit from a weak opponent. They have a movement of 3, which is a bit low, but these are large-size disks, so they are faster than you might think just reading the description. Of course, that large size makes them susceptible to opposing missile fire in return. Finally, they have a point cost of 6… pretty reasonable for what you get. Compare this with the Don’ra Stingers, the basic missile troop of the Uthuk faction. These guys are 2 2 2, movement 3 archers which cost 5 points… rather overpriced, considering that the Undead faction gets 2 2 2, movement 5 archers for 4 points.
Next in line, the Drake Warriors. These are 3 2 3 movement 4 infantry, of the ‘standard’ disk size, and only cost 3 points. Again, I’ll compare them to the equivalent disks from the Uthuk and Undead factions, namely the Warriors of Yllan (4 2 3 move 3 cost 5) and Undead Horde (2 4 3 move 3 cost 4). It’s pretty clear that Drake Warriors are fast, but a bit weak. They are also quite inexpensive, so I’d say that they are well worth the point cost.
Now, the ‘elite’ infantry, the Drallus Worms. These guys are 3 3 6, movement 5, cost 6, and have the special rule that they must Ambush if any enemy disk is within 6”. Fast, hard to kill, if not major damage dealers… they could be useful for pinning an opponent disk down until backup can arrive. On the other hand, they could be ‘lured’ into attacking a decoy because of their special rule. They seem pretty fair. Equivalent disks include the Uthuk Zealots, 4 3 5 move 3 cost 7 disks with the Berserk special ability, and the Undead Riders, 5 2 5 move 5 cost 7 larger size disks. The Uthuk Zealots don’t seem too special at first glance, especially given their low speed, but if they survive the first round of combat and continue to fight, they turn into 6 5 7 disks, thanks to that Berserk ability. In other words, a very good buy, typical for the Uthuk faction, which rewards melee and penalizes ranged combat. The Undead Riders, on the other hand, are fast and pretty strong on the attack, but weak in defense and susceptible to missile weapons. In other words, balanced.
Finally, the Dragonflight disks. These are 3 3 4, move 6 cost 5 disks with the Flight ability. This allows them to pass over friendly and enemy disks without engaging in combat upon overlapping them. This is a useful tactical ability, which allows them to choose which combat to participate in, and works well with their high speed. Their relatively low stats consign them to either assisting in melee, or possibly hunting down enemy missile weapon troops. I’d say their cost of 5 was again a balanced value. Equivalent disks include the Ru Airglider for the Uthuk, and the Wraith for the Undead faction. Like the Dragonflight, a Ru Airglider is a flyer, but in this case it’s a 5 3 5 move 5 cost 6 flyer. However, it has a special drawback: it is instantly destroyed if touched by an enemy flyer. I’d say this is a balanced disk as well… clearly it would lose out when faced by a Dragonflight disk. The Wraith is weird… a 4 4 3 move 3 cost 9 disk, it doesn’t fly, but has the special ability to move over any other disks, and place an Activation marker on any disks it touches. While fragile, if used cleverly, the Wraith can be used tactically to immobilize enemy forces, justifying its high cost.
How does the core Dragonkin army stack up? Well, what I’m seeing here is balance. There are no particularly strong disks in this force, except perhaps the Ballisters, but neither are any of these disks weak or overpriced. However, the lack of obvious strengths also means a lack of obvious tactics. Where a strong melee force like the Uthuk can get away with just charging into the fray, a Dragonkin player is going to have to think carefully, and try not to make many mistakes.
What can we do about expanding on this core force?
Well, just out of the box, we got pretty lucky. A Diskwars force can include up to 50% of its points from other factions, not counting spells. The random flats included in my box happened to included Ghash Zzurkan, a level 2 Orc spellcaster, Goblin Marauders and Urgg the Really Mean, both Orc disks, as well as Death Hounds, an Undead disk, and a Marshwood Troll, an unaligned disk. Together, these add up to exactly 48 points, and also lets us use quite a few of the spells found in the flats. While the Goblin Marauders are rather useless when only a single disk of them is available, the other disks give us two really formidable melee disks and one exceptionally fast disk. Adding up the points for the level I and level II spells I chose to include, we have a 120 point force altogether… not a bad little army at all. Although there are also Elves and Acolytes and Knights, I’m not considering them because they are Good disks, and as the bulk of the Dragonkin faction is Evil, only other Evil or Neutral disks can be included in a Dragonkin army.
The next option is to invest more money into Diskwars. Collectible games are a sore spot with some people; the best way to play a collectible game but save money is to go in with a few friends, or join a local league. This allows you to trade off the parts of your collection that you don’t want. I’d recommend trading for Dragonkin disks over mass purchases anyway because, looking at my own collection, they appear to be fairly rare. Although I’ve got stacks of Elves and Acolytes and Dwarves and whatnot, I’ve only got nine Dragonkin disks, and I’d estimate I’ve purchased nearly a dozen Diskwars packs, both basic sets and expansions, as well as getting tournament promo disk sets. Of course, I don’t have enough information to really say whether Dragonkin disks are truly uncommon, or this is merely a statistical anomaly owing to a small sample size.
Go to forum!
(Due to spamming, old forum discussions are no linked.)