The components of Blood Feud are up to the usual Eagle Games standard, with a big glossy board depicting New York and New Jersey, plenty of plastic pieces, player boards, and a great summary card. The vehicles and buildings in the game are nicely done and the different hired criminals are both uniquely sculpted and colored to make it easy to determine what they are on the board. The only complaint about the components is that there are no $500 bills in the game. Counting out $900 in $100 bills gets to be a little tedious at times.
The rulebook is very well written, with plenty of examples and (gasp) an index! The art in the book is gritty and consistent with the overall theme, although the painted graphic on the book cover is a little rough. The examples in the book are also extensive illustrated, helping to clarify the various concepts found within. Overall the rules of the game are fairly simple and only an occasional glance into the rulebook will need to be made during a game. The player boards summarize most of the needed data in the game, while the reference card (with examples from the rulebook) covers almost everything else. The only part of the rules that are clunky are the Corrupted Precincts that each family can purchase. These do many things including: give the defender a bonus, block opponent movement, and require additional cost to conquer. As each side takes and retakes a territory the cost of the precinct increases, but the only way to indicate the increased cost is with a small note stuck under the piece. It would be nice if there was a more elegant method to track this.
Combat is very straightforward and follows a pattern similar to other light wargames. Combatants are moved into position, and all of the attackers roll a ten-sided die, each hoping to roll equal to or greater than their attack number. The defender then does the same and casualties are removed. An interesting aspect of combat is that once it is started, it does not end until one or both of the sides are completely defeated. It would be nice if a battle board was available to help keep track of the different levels of combatants, but it is hardly mandatory.
Each player starts with a Boss and 5 Family Members which all directly influence the money earned each turn. The only way to get more Family Members is by defeating other bosses, which also removes that player from the game. A very tactically interesting aspect of the game is the fact the if a Family Member is defeated in combat, it can be either killed or kidnapped. The latter is very useful in case one of your Family Members is captured, since you can bargain for a trade. In fact throughout the game back room dealing and alliance making is encouraged, helping greatly in keeping the theme of the game. Also tactically exciting is the fact that if the Boss is ever defeated, that player is out of the game. With helicopters, limos, and speedboats all available, creating a safe place for your Boss is challenging and helps the game from stalemating into World War I-like trench warfare.
Another great gameplay aspect of the game is that there is typically only one turn of unrestricted expansion before two players start to encroach on each other’s territory. Often in a game like this the first few turns consist of nothing but moving as many pieces in to new territories as possible. Here a player can quickly spread himself too thin and find their battlelines are being broken.
The game itself can be a little on the long side and if one player gets ganged up on there is not a whole lot they can do to stop the attacks, but this too is consistent with the mob war theme. A lot of side dealing is necessary in a six-player game to keep neighbors from rapidly taking advantage of a player since there are no real late-game comeback options.
Blood Feud in New York is a visually impressive game that holds some very exciting and tense gameplay in its large box. It is definitely not a light game, but the rules are easy to grasp and the tactical options available are many. Additionally, the fun of flying helicopters and driving speedboats around New York, packed to the gills with hired thugs, cannot be denied. A group with three or four hours available can easy be drawn into this exciting game.
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