So when I received a review copy of Fire & Axe, the Asmodee US re-release and makeover of Viking Fury, I was apprehensive. On the one hand, Asmodee makes some of my favorite games, with some of the most attractive game components you can buy. On the other hand, I don’t have much love for Vikings, so I was a little hesitant on the theme before I even opened the box.

I expected the game to be pretty. Asmodee has some fantastic artists work on their games, and Fire & Axe is no exception. The large map of Europe and North Africa, complete with sailing routes and a wind rose, is beautiful. The little plastic Vikings and their little plastic ships are great pieces. The dozens of little cardboard chits representing furs, money, tusks and other components all look fabulous. The rulebook is chock-full of great illustrations and examples, and is a full-color extravaganza. But even if everything looked good, I could still find it lacking. Take, for example, Ave Caesar – that game bored me, but it sure was pretty.

No, the real proof would be in two things. First, the game play (as with any game that hopes to win my attention) had to be engaging. I had to make tough choices and weigh the odds. I needed to be able to make long-term goals and execute short-term strategies to achieve them. In short, it had to be a good game, theme or no theme.

The second hiccup for me would be the theme. If the Vikings in Fire & Axe wandered around, mercilessly killing and pillaging for no real purpose, I was not going to be a fan. I know Vikings did a lot more than land on English shores, kill all the men and have their way with the women. They were innovators and traders and settlers, and in real life were far more impressive than their Hollywood counterparts.

I was happily surprised on both counts.

In Fire & Axe, players each assume the role of a different, generic group of Vikings. They stock their ships with trading goods and warriors and head off to colonize the world – or terrorize, depending on their needs. My concerns about a one-dimensional theme were immediately allayed – one of the best ways to win involves creating settlements everywhere you can, and if you never sack one town you can still win the game.

Even better, the game play is fantastic. It moves quickly (until you get to my son, who has to rethink every move four times), and after a couple turns, is very intuitive. It is exciting, challenging, and rewards patience and planning over trusting to blind luck.

Each turn, players get seven days in which to make moves. Loading a ship with one trade good or Viking takes a day, as does moving one ocean segment. Some areas are very difficult to sail through – it takes a hardy crew to make decent time through the oceans north of Scandinavia. Settlements are strewn from Iceland to Rome, and each has a city in need of trade, sacking or settling. Players push their resources as far as they’ll go, hoping to sack Paris before they run completely out of warriors and have to return to their home ports to try again.

Fire & Axe does a great job of rewarding the patient player, but an equally good job of dropping lures for the impetuous. If a player trades with a settlement on one turn, the settlement is weaker against subsequent raids or colonization attempts. However, once a player has acted on a settlement, he cannot do anything else with it until his next turn. Other players, on the other hand, can profit by his prep work. The hasty player might forego the trading advantage to get first strike, but the real advantage goes to the patient player who chooses his battles and strikes wisely, not quickly.

All told, Fire & Axe is one of the best games I’ve played in months. I started out hesitant about it, but wound up absolutely delighted. The pieces are beautiful and the game is brilliant. I am proud to give this one a shining 10 out of 10.

Style: 5 – Fantastic pieces that make the game almost as much fun to see as it is to play.

Substance: 5 – A great game that will be getting a ton of replay at my house.

In 3 reviews, average style rating is 5.00 and average substance rating is 4.00.