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Review of Guild Ball Season III: Brewer's Guild
Blurb from the publisher: ''Hear them? They sing like that for us. For their heroes. Time to go out there and make each and every one of them proud. Proud, like you are of your teammates, and the kutte you wear.' - Esters, Brewer's Guild
Fierce but kind, the Brewers' matriarch is driven by a powerful need for redemption and to protect those under her care. On the pitch Esters is an avatar of inspiration driving her teammates to astonishing feats of bravery as they shrug off injuries that would bring another player low.
More unorthodox than other Brewers, this team excels at taking their opponents by surprise; with players showing unexpected bursts of speed, or suddenly attacking wildly and recklessly. Empowered by the ballads of their captain, this team is one to be feared and coaches will relish in their unique flexibility.
Voices raised in a deafening chorus, this set includes: a ball, 6 player cards, bases, and 6 players: Esters, Quaff, Mash, veteran Spigot, Stoker, PintPot.'
What you get: The Brewer's Guild has certain particularities in Guild Ball's Season III. Half of its crew is contained in Guild Ball: Kick Off! and is made in plastic. The remaining half of its crew is contained in The Brewer's Guild: Sing When You 'Re Winning, and is made of metal. In order to add scenery for the Guild as it gradually does with all Guilds, Steamforged Games released all the scenery in one set, combined with the scenery of the Masons, the other Guild that is featured in Kick Off.
Having already seen Kick Off! together, and since I will examine the Mason's and Brewer's Terrain Pack on its own review in the near future, the present review deals with the following:
- The Brewer's Guild: Sing When You 'Re Winning (EUR 65). It contains 6 metal miniatures, 6 bases, 6 cards, and one ball token.
- The Brewer's Guild: Dice Pack (EUR 15). It contains ten six-sided dice with white pips on a gold, marble-like background. The emblem of the Brewers is proudly displayed instead of number six.
The items are sold separately. There are no prerequisites, i.e. you don't need to buy one in order to buy another.
Additional items also exist in the line, like dedicated plastic tokens, a Brewer's Guild exclusive play mat, or guild patches for your garments. These items are not covered by the present review.
In the interest of full disclosure, I haven't finished treating all the miniatures (something that would have stalled the review quite a bit), but up to now the material behaved very well to my clumsy cleaning, cutting, priming, partial gluing and partial painting (with all the intermediary steps). The most observant of you might remember that this is the same approach I took on my previous reviews when it comes to miniatures.
Taking into account that the sculpts, and many of the plays of the Brewers, remain unchanged since Season I, the present review holds many similarities to the review from two years back.
Contents: The Guild sets do not include additional rules, except from the list of Union players that can legally play for the Guild at hand. I will thus take a look at what a Guild does holistically with the miniatures that form its ranks.
The Brewers have been around since Season I. Sing When You 'Re Winning however contains only two footballers from Season I. Its contents are Esters, Mash, Quaff, PintPot, Spigot, and Stoker.
Esters is the sets Captain. She is the robust, earthly kind of woman that Vikings or Renaissance men would have loved, yet who today would be associated with high heart-failure potential. Her helmet's extremely long horns aren't the only impressive thing about her. She has 22 hp and specializes in area-of-effect attacks, be them earth-scorching or burning. Neither friend nor foe escapes unscathed. Her enormous size allows her to ignore the first hit every turn, while her booming voice buffs up her teammates with various effects like additional speed, strength, and agility. Her Heroic Play soothes her teammates and eliminates their conditions, while her Legendary Play allows her to buff up her own multiple times each turn.
Mash is a hearty guy with multiple interests, seeing how he comes into a football pitch with a cricket bat. His plays include improving his Kick and knocking opponents to the ground. His snap shots cost cheaper when he is near the enemy's posts. He has an affinity towards Esters, with improved ARM when he is around her. He is unpredictable when opponents advance in his melee zone, gaining an extra 2'' Dodge.
Quaff is this set's mascot, a St Bernard's dog that looks at you with the most unimpressed of faces. Like other mascots, he is much beloved by friends and foes alike, granting TAC to his teammates whenever he gets damaged. He also provides TAC here and there, with all the beer he carries on him.
PintPot is a punk, and the first non-burly guy in this set. Maybe this is why he uses barrels as shoulder pads, to feel bigger. He reduces his opponents INF, and scruffily fights against everybody around him; prepare to see a lot of blood (and broken noses). He doesn't gang up on players, on the other hand however he can't get crowded out either. He starts the game carrying beer (tokens) with him. From those six tokens, he can spend up to three per turn in order to either make an attack or a character play without spending INF, or use a Heroic Play without spending Momentum. His Heroic Play allows him to ignore an attack.
Spigot has seen quite the change from his Season I version, both when it comes to his abilities, as well as his artwork and sculpt. Gone is the bottle-wielding, Glasgow-like Ruffian. He is now dressed in what I consider a rather convincing fantasy version of the popularized Scottish highland attire. He is grumpy, in a rather passive stance, with his arms crossed on his chest. He can goad his opponents towards him, and is more than a decent ball handler. He is faster with the ball than without, and ignores the first tackle made each turn against him. Once per turn, when near the edge of the pitch, he can make a counter-attack without spending MP. His Heroic Play sees his DEF increased, as well as him taking a Kick without spending INF.
Stoker doesn't care for beer; he is all about hard liquor. Easy to tell, seeing how he holds a whiskey bottle and a live torch, breathing fire upon his opponents. He looks like a cross between a Saxon and a Viking, with a featureless, hornless helmet and an elaborate, well taken care of beard. At the end of the day he might even be a Gaul like Asterix, drinking a'magic' brew that removes conditions. He can burn people, dealing extra damage as he goes. He is also attracted to already burning players, seeing how he can damage them more easily. His Heroic Play turns him into a human ball of fire, burning everyone he touches, while he himself suffers heavy damage.
The strong points: The Brewers are whimsical, first and foremost, something that shows in both their form as well as their content. In my view they are by far the most desirable Guild when it comes to aesthetics. Some of these guys have jumped out straight from a Guy Ritchie movie. They are riotous, raucous, mayhem oriented; in short, they are fun in a surreal sort of way. A big (big!) woman with horns. A bored, 'give-me-a-break' St Bernard's dog. A circus-worthy fire-breather. This is a disparate bunch, yet when you field them together it all makes sense.
When it comes to tactics, the Brewers are very likely to remain in the field far longer than their opponents, something that gives them an advantage the more the game progresses. They don't necessarily deal massive damage, they are unparalleled however at taking it. A look at their hp is revealing. They do not have the team spirit of the Masons even though they can buff up one another and use some tricks taken out of the Fisherman playbook (mostly area control and open spaces). They are not however as fast as that guild and very unlikely to follow them in these tactics all the way. If you consider them a middle-ground team with a couple of minis excelling in either brutal or fast game, but without overpowering team plays, you got it right.
I strongly approve of the transition from selling many solitary models to having only two sets of miniatures. It increases the game's availability and visibility, makes the investment cost easier to grasp, and overall facilitates the game.
I really enjoy how fast and easy bookkeeping is in Guild Ball overall. All you need to do is sleeve the cards, and use an erasable marker above the sleeves for HP. That's all!
The dice have a nice, beer-like golden hue. I am not talking about the clear gold of a standard lager, but the slightly more misty make of more elaborate brews. That's an excellent colour combination for the Brewers, even though ale-like dark browns would have also fitted them well.
The weak points: If you have a thing for the Brewers, you will have to pay more than for any other Guild. Half their squad can only be purchased with the Masons and the other material of the starting game. Idem for their scenery and goalpost; you get those of the Masons as well, irrespective of whether you like them or not. Only Sing When You 'Re Winning is a Brewer-only product, dice excluded. And even if your have purchased all that, if you prefer working with either plastic or metal, you will have to deal with both items anyway. Friendly advice: don't mix work and drinks.
The metal minis in the set are not of the same texture and quality. None is 'better' than the other; they are simply different. Before any work is done with them, some look glossy and silvery, while others are matte and feel slightly more porous. I don't know what caused this; I haven't noticed any differences in behaviour while treating them.
The Brewers need to be controlled tightly, in order to have the right player on the right spot at the right time. It's easy to think that because they have a couple of bruisers they are all bruisers, or because they have a couple of runners they are all runners. Play the more focused guilds (namely the Butchers and the Fishermen) at their own game and I guarantee you that you will lose. This means that you must adapt to what the other guy fields. If you don't enjoy this style of play and you prefer something more straight-forward and consistent, there are guilds that do it better.
Season III continues with a card format that I find counterintuitive. Experienced players may remember their guildballer's stats and abilities by heart, my question however remains: why isn't all pertinent information printed in the same side of the card? That would have either necessitated slightly bigger cards, or, were that not possible, the inclusion of two cards of each type for ease of reference. Page-flipping during a game is not fun, not to mention how it increases the learning curve for the newer players. On the other hand, and to instantly alleviate the issue, one can simply print the free cards from the Internet.
Conclusion: The Brewers hold a special place in my heart. They are scruffy, yet they are noble, the only Guild that consistently comes out in both the crunch as well as the fluff as 'good lads enjoying a rough game', instead of psycho killers or ruthless assholes. I raise my glass to their spirit. If I could paint convincing beer foam moustaches and drunk noses in all of them, I would.
For more info on The Brewer's Guild for Guild Ball Season III and Steamforged Games visit their website at http://steamforged.com.
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