Overview

Broken Earth is available as a download from Nevermore Games and RPGShop.com. The ZIP archive contains a PDF of the rules, paper stand-up figures, a sample battle and some supplemental files. The "cover image" is available separately from the Nevermore Games website.

In a somewhat unorthodox manner, the rules for Broken Earth present scenarios first, followed by battlefield setup, then the rules of play. All told, the rules proper cover three pages. The remaining pages document the armies, terrain features, and provide a unit reference sheet.

Nevermore Games offers a subscription to its Broken Earth website where players can download scenarios, additional units, and expansions.

Game Play

Broken Earth lives up to its "fast and furious" claim through its relatively "light" rules. Game setup is quick and easy to understand. Players choose a scenario (or devise one of their own), pick the units for their armies (usually around 100 Army points) and set up the battlefield. Game turns are broken into two phases: initiative and action. Initiative is simply a 2d6 roll plus the Leadership values of any units in the player's army.

Action alternates between players; the player who won initiative moves one of his or her units first. Actions are limited to five possible "orders": move, charge, shoot, fight, or take cover. Combat takes place as players give their orders.

In keeping with the streamlined rules, combat is quite simple. The attacking player rolls and compares the result to his/her unit's fighting or shooting value to determine both success and damage. The defending player rolls against his/her unit's defense value to find how many of the wounds were negated.

Broken Earth lends itself especially to short games. Suggestions are provided throughout for battles with armies larger than 100 points. However, given the streamlined nature of the rules, players may experience some difficulty with the simplicity of the game. There's no provision for the effect of leaders on armies (such as morale) nor any accounting for more advanced concepts like facing. Broken Earth is more about skirmish-level battles rather than larger tactical engagements.

Presentation

Unfortunately, Broken Earth is marred somewhat by its presentation. The body text font is quite small (it looks like 8 or 9 point, just slightly larger than frequently used for the "legalese") and is sans-serif, a font that lends itself to readability on the computer screen but not on paper. A minor but annoying error is the use of "it's" to indicate possession; the author is consistent in her use throughout, however. The text has odd spacing, sometimes proportional and sometimes monospaced. The overall effect is a bit difficult to read and lends a distinctly amateurish look to the game.

The color cover art is quite striking; it's what initially sold me on the game. The interior art is black-and-white by the same artist. Unit pieces are three-sided, about 3/8" on a side; players cut them out and glue them into free-standing pieces. I'd guess they're about 10mm scale. My own personal preference is for 25mm figures that are two-sided but these are fine.