Summary of Components

The Dragon Expansion comes in a smaller, bookshelf-sized box. It contain with a wide variety of stuff.

Most obviously, you get three new "general" miniatures, giving you dragon miniatures to use for the black, red, and green force. To use these properly, you need new Darkness Spreads cards and new Hero cards (which show the correct generals), which are also included. Further, you have big cardboard sheets not only for each of the new generals--but also so that each dragon general can alternately be used as an agent, a topic we'll return to.

Everything else is a bit more scattered from this central focus.

New hero cards and can be added to the hero deck and global effects cards can be added the darkness spread decks. There are also new quests. Finally, there are a variety of cardboard tokens, which are used for a number of game variants (e.g., fire tokens when Brimstone is in play; fame tokens when playing with the king's champion variant, and royal blessing when you want an easier game).

The rulebook is of some note too because it contains a number of notable additions, including: the aforementioned variants; five different scenarios which each allow for different play; a FAQ for the basic game; and some fiction.

Quality: The dragons in this set are a particular delight because, unlike the generals in the original set, these ones have a bit of paint applied to highlight their details. The cardboard and cardstock is all good quality as well. 5 out of 5.

Beauty: As with the original game, we have attractive artwork by Larry Elmore, but design work that doesn't entirely hold up to that high standard. 4 out of 5.

Usability: My biggest problem with the components is the usability. I already wrote in my original review of Defenders of the Realm that I think the cards could have been designed better to really make them easy to use.

However, this new game introduces the awkwardness of having to recreate your Hero deck and your Darkness Spreads deck whenever you want to change out a single general in your game. Essentially, you have to swap in the cards for the appropriate general for each color. Not only is such a process pain-staking, but it can be a particular problem for the Sapphire cards.

That's the dragon that already existed in the base set; its cards are just duplicated here. But, there's no "supplement" symbol on the cards, so if I ever accidentally mix my old and new Sapphire cards, I end up with a big mess.

This whole problem of card swapping was required because the cards all show pictures of the generals on them, so the issues go back to the original design, but they're really highlighted here. 2 out of 5.

Theming: The fantasy theming of this game continues to be fun, with attempts to push it with the inclusion of fiction. 4 out of 5.

Summary: There are lots of nice components in the Dragon Expansion for Defenders of the Realm. However, there are also problems with using them, as it's a pain to sort in the exact cards that you need for the generals you want, and it looks like that problem will continue through later expansions. That definitely affects the Style, but given the other good elements of the components, I've let the game eke in a "4" out of "5".

Summary of Gameplay

Dragon Expansion contains a lot of different gameplay elements, which can be used either apart or together. Here's a quick synopsis of what they all are.

Scenarios: The supplement is really built around a set of five scenarios, each of which changes how the game is played. The first, which is the "default" for the expansion, says to use all the dragon generals in place of the original generals. The second one introduces an agent. The third one offers a more "advanced" invasion. The fourth one has special rules for tainting the land. The fifth has special rules for fires and Brimstone, the red dragon.

New Generals: There are four new generals: Brimstone the Red Dragon, Onyx the Black Dragon, Hemlock the Green Dragon, and Sapphire Blue Dragon. Each has different rules than the original generals as well as different minions (who do different things!). The variations are notable, but the only general that really has a revolutionary rule is Brimstone, who randomly moves about the board--entering Monarch CIty only when enough has been set aflame.

Agents: Agents, contrariwise, are probably the most revolutionary rule in this expansion. Any of the new dragons can be used as an agent, which comes into play in addition to the generals. Naturally, the agents increase the difficulty of the game. Each has special rules for how it moves, what it does when moved, and how to defeat it.

For example, Hemlock circles around inns whenever a general moves. It closes an inn while there and causes a certain color of rumor to do damage to heroes. A lone hero can kill Hemlock by discarding three of a random color of card.

Global Effect Cards: These are one of the more minor additions: five of these cards are added to the Darkness Spreads deck, some good and some bad. When drawn, each causes a global effect that stays in play until another card appears or a general moves. For example, one card closes inns, while another makes transport easier between seaside locations.

Other Stuff: There are a few new "special" hero cards and a few new quests. Beyond that, the game has a few variants ...

The Royal Blessing Variant: This makes the game easier. A few "royal blessing" tokens can be used by the group to allow dice rerolling, card discarding, or taint removing on a one-time basis.

The More Players Variant: Slightly different setups now are available for five or six players. We played with five, and although there are some downtime concerns, it generally worked well.

The King's Champion Variant: If you've played Arkham Horror you know that designer Richard Launius believes that co-op games should still have a best-winner. Players now earn fame for "minor" and "major" actions (with minor actions being things like "attack 3 minions in a location" and major fame being things like "land slaying blow to a general" and "slay 2 or more minions in a single round of combat"). Like the quest cards, these can introduce some variant goals which aren't always in the group's best interest, which is a fun balance.

Relationships to Other Games

The Dragon Expansion is the first expansion to Defenders of the Realm.

The Game Design

A good question for most expansions is, "Does it fundamentally change the game?" The answer here is: a little.

The scenarios and the new generals add some nice variability to the game because they all tweak the standard gameplay in different ways. That should extend the amount you can play Defenders of the Realm, which is exactly what I'd expect out of a supplement.

There are only two elements that are truly revolutionary. First, you have Brimstone whose unique movement really changes how you think about generals. Then you have the agents, which are offensive forces that you have to think about in a very different manner. Some would probably consider the King's Champion variant to be similarly revolutionary.

On the downside, however, the component usability problems seep into the play of the game itself. Most notably, we had to throw out several quests over the course of the game because they couldn't be completed without the original generals and/or minions in the game. Maybe we were supposed to pretend that they talked about the new generals and minions, I'm not sure, but it generally pointed to other troubles with the way that the core game and expansion have been put together.

On the whole, there was more that was exciting in the game design than was annoying, so I've given it a high "3" out of "5": slightly above average.

Conclusion

Defenders of the Realm: Dragon Expansion will add a lot of color and variability to your Defenders game, though it integrates somewhat clumsily with the original game. Nonetheless, if you've been playing a lot of Defenders, this is well worth getting to help change up your game.