Play review of the board game 'Dragon Gears' where giant robots and dragons collide with each other to protect humanity with ultra-high quality miniatures.
In order to save humanity from the drake (dragon tribe) led by a huge dragon, the battle miniature board game 'Dragon Gears' that plays based on the magnificent world view that the knights confront the giant robot 'Hex Gears' operated by the witch ... , Will appear on Saturday, February 27, 2021. I actually assembled a miniature and played this super-large board game, which was a collaboration between the board game maker '
Super new sensation miniature game 'Dragon Gyas' | MAXFACTORY x Arclight Games
https://www.dragongyas.com/
◆ The contents of the game look like this
◆ I tried to assemble a miniature
◆ I took a closer look at the assembled miniature
◆ Preparation for the game
◆ I actually played the game
◆ Impressions
◆ The contents of the game look like this
The package of Dragon Gyas is quite large, and it looks like this when the editorial staff with a height of 165 cm holds it.
It is assumed that the number of players is 1 to 4, the play time is 60 minutes, and the target age is 15 years or older.
On the side of the package, it was appealing that 'the delicate and powerful miniature that was carefully selected!'
The game design is by
When I opened the package, I found two boxes with blue-based monochrome illustrations.
'BOX A' and 'BOX B' are written on the side of the cardboard box. It's quite light when you hold it in your hand.
I opened BOX A. BOX A and BOX B contain multiple plastic runners with miniature parts, like plastic model parts.
And under the two boxes, there was 'BOX G' with a monochrome illustration based on red. Made of cardboard, it is heavy.
When I opened BOX G, I found a miniature assembly manual and a rule book.
Cardboard panel used during the game
A battlefield that serves as a game board, and a summary that can be used as a tsuitate during the game.
Setting cards and action cards for solo play
There are two types of setup cards and control cards, blue and red.
There are two types of initiative cards and cards for 3-4 players, blue and red.
There are two types of initiative cards, the Knights side (red) and the Dragon side (blue). The initiative card on the Human & Hexagias side has an even number of 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10, and the initiative card on the Dragon side has an odd number of 1, 3, 5, 7, 9.
Tokens that display HP, damage tokens (black) and acted tokens (yellow)
◆ I tried to assemble a miniature
'BOX B' is a white part and is a miniature of the Knights. There are four main runners, seven small circular pedestals and one large hexagonal pedestal. One small runner with five more markers. To assemble a Dragon Gyas miniature, you need at least nippers and glue.
Soldiers dressed in thick armor ...
A bird that cavalry rides. Since the square of the cutting mat in the background is 1 cm square, this miniature is about 5 cm high, but it is quite elaborate.
Parts are cut out from the runner with nippers.
Below are the miniature parts of the heavy armor.
Cut off the gate part that connects the runner and the parts with a design knife ……
After aligning the parts together, glue them together with a pouring adhesive. Most of the joints of the parts are inconspicuous places such as joints and gaps between the twists, and many parts do not have joints for temporary fixing, so it may take some tricks to put the parts together and pour the adhesive. However, you can build a high quality miniature without having to erase the seams.
The completed miniature of heavy soldiers looks like this. One miniature can be assembled in about 10 to 15 minutes, but it takes time to dry the adhesive, so it is not ready to play as soon as it is assembled.
Parts that look completely like the torii gate of a shrine
Assemble one by one while looking at the instructions. The torii parts are combined with machine-like parts.
Japanese sword and two bent parts
When assembled, a miniature of the giant robot 'Hex Gears' holding a sword is completed.
The torii was a part that Hexgias carried on his back.
For hex gears, base parts like a collapsed Japanese house were prepared. Is it an image that the main shrine or the office collapsed when the hex gears came out from under the torii gate of the shrine?
Next, assemble the parts of BOX B. The dragon side is a solid black part, with 4 main runners and 1 small runner with 5 markers. There are seven small circular pedestals and one large hexagonal pedestal.
Unlike the Knights side, which had a rugged design as a whole, the parts on the dragon side are made very finely.
There are many thin and pointed parts, and it is possible to cut the parts by mistake for the runner gate, so you need to work very carefully.
The miniature on the dragon side takes 20 to 30 minutes to assemble, which is clearly more time-consuming than the miniature on the knighthood side. However, it is so built that it cannot be thought of as a miniature with a height of several centimeters.
Claws grow firmly on the hind legs of Wolfdrake. Despite being a mass-produced plastic runner, the nails, fangs, scales, etc. are precisely shaped, and it makes me groan involuntarily.
For example, the nine parts that make up the worm drake miniature are:
As a 'worm drake,' it features legs with arthropod-like nodes, a biological membrane that can be seen through the gaps in the exoskeleton, and sharply pointed claws.
When assembled, it looks like this. Since the molding color is black, it gives a more realistic and eerie impression. The miniature on the dragon side is also designed so that the seams of the parts are hidden in the bases of the joints and the gaps in the exoskeleton, so it will be high enough without having to file or trim it.
Skulls piled up at your feet. The Knights side assembled in about 1 hour and 30 minutes with all 8 bodies, while the dragon side miniatures took less than 3 hours with all 8 bodies. It can be said that the miniature on the dragon side is more difficult to assemble than the knights side because the parts are fine.
◆ I took a closer look at the assembled miniature
There are 5 types of small size 'Knights' and 1 type of large 'Hex Gears' in the miniatures on the Knights side.
A 'cavalry' straddling a bird. A bow is attached to the right hand.
The texture of the bird's feathers and the skin of the feet are also finely crafted.
An 'engineer' who dexterously advances through the walls of a building by grasping something that looks like a wire
A 'medic' with a pouch containing medical equipment on his left arm ...
I am helping a soldier who has fallen on the battlefield.
'Heavy soldier' with a huge spear and a thick shield
Torii-shaped emblem engraved on the shield
At my feet was a defeated enemy.
'Knight Chief', one size larger than other Knights miniatures
Like a cavalry, it straddles a bird and carries a spear with a flag on its back.
And 'Hex Gears' which is about 2 to 3 times the size of the cavalry miniature.
A huge torii on your back
The frame of the hex gears gives a slightly delicate impression, but it takes a half body and holds a huge Japanese sword firmly.
The dragon side is a black miniature. There are 7 Drake miniatures of 5 types.
The dog-like Wolfdrake seems to be walking on a tree branch.
It is Ape Drake that has thick arms like a gorilla.
Regened Lake is a small dragon that regenerates its companions, but it looks more like a carnivorous plant than a dragon.
From the side, you can see that the entire body of the Regenerated Drake is the mouth and has all the fangs.
Worm drake that looks like an insect
Helm Drake, befitting the name of a small dragon, has wings and horns on its back.
One of the curved wings is made up of one part, and there is already a hole at the runner's stage.
And it is a huge dragon that bundles the drakes.
Head with bare fangs and large horns
Huge wings on the back. The unevenness of muscles and scales is also firmly carved.
A part of the stone tower has collapsed at your feet.
For those who want to play quickly because it is troublesome to assemble all the miniatures, there is also a piece that can be easily made with cardboard and a stand.
◆ Preparation for the game
'Dragon Gears' is a rule that two camps attack the opponent's hex gears or dragon while moving the miniature. When the attack is decided, the HP will decrease, and the game will end when either side loses all HP or 5 rounds have passed.
First of all, let's play with two players. On the human & hex gears side, there are control cards, 7 knight tiles that describe the attacks and actions of the knights miniatures, 5 initiative cards, 5 hex gears exploration tiles, 7 HP markers (blue) and 3 soul markers (red). Distribute one.
We will distribute control cards, 7 drake tiles, 5 initiative cards, 5 dragon exploration tiles, and 10 HP markers (blue) to the dragon side.
Place the battlefield in the center of your desk and fold the two summaries up in the center of the battlefield so you can't see each side during the initial preparation.
The Knights / Drake tiles have miniature attacks and actions written on them and are placed on the right side of your hand for reference during the game.
Each control card has 6 mobile cards, 6 attack cards, and 6 special cards. Of these, select 3 attack cards and 3 special cards, and use a total of 12 cards including the moving cards in your hand. In addition, attack cards and special cards can be freely selected according to the strategy, but in the first play, the recommended configuration described in the manual is adopted.
Next, install 5 weak tiles on the left side. There are 3 types of weakness tiles: 1 'True Weakness / Gekirin', 1 'Weakness', and 3 'Armor'.
Hexagonal footrests of hex gears and dragons have a triangular mark (red frame) on the front side, and there are five attack points clockwise from there. Of these five attack points, only two points, 'weakness' and 'true weakness / reverse scale', can be attacked. It is necessary to find out if it is a 'weakness / reverse scale' and take the step of attacking it.
Therefore, it is important where to set the 'weakness' or 'true weakness' in the five attack points. Place the weakness tile face down on the battlefield so that it is not visible to your opponent.
Then place the Knights / Drake Miniatures on the small hexagonal squares and the Large Hexgias / Dragon Miniatures on the large squares. You are free to place which miniature and where.
After placing the miniatures, remove the summary from the center of the battlefield and place it next to each camp. Now you are ready.
◆ I actually played the game
The game progresses by repeating rounds, and one round consists of 'Initiative Phase', 'Control Phase', 'Command Phase', and 'End Phase'. If the 5th round is over and the game is not settled, the dragon will automatically win. Mankind cannot win unless he defeats the dragon within 5 rounds. In other words, at the beginning of the game, the human race / hexgias side is already forced to fight against the dragon side.
In the 'Initiative Phase', each side chooses one of the five initiative cards dealt and reveals it at the same time. And the camp with the highest number of initiative cards will be in an advantageous position in that round.
This time, the Knights side released a '2' card, and the Dragon side released a '5' card. In other words, in the first round, the dragon side took the initiative. Once used, the initiative card will be discarded and will be removed from the game.
Next, proceed with the 'control phase' that determines the behavior of the hex gears / dragon. Each side chooses 3 cards from the control cards and places them face down on 'Control 1', 'Control 2' and 'Control 3' in the summary. At this time, it is important to note the order in which the control cards are placed.
If both sides place 3 control cards, they will be revealed at the same time in order from control 1. This time, the Knights have issued a 'turn' that can change the direction of the hex gears.
On the other hand, the dragon side also made the same 'turn'. The control card processes the one with the largest number of arrows drawn on the upper left of the control card first. However, this time both have the same number of arrows, so ...
The dragon side with the larger number in the initiative phase turns the dragon miniature first.
After changing the direction of the hex gears on the Knights side, the cards of Control 2 and Control 3 will be revealed and processed in order in the same way.
The Knights will suddenly push the mighty weapon, Hexgias, into the middle of the enemy's camp, saying, 'Dragon should be destroyed!'
On the other hand, the dragon side strengthened its defense by moving to the square surrounded by the drake while escaping from the hex gears.
At the end of the control phase, perform a 'command phase' that determines the actions of the Knights / Drake Miniature. In the command phase, the number of actions and the order change depending on the difference in the number of initiative cards issued in the initiative phase. Of course, the outcome of the Initiative Phase is key, as the more advantageous camps act first or act more often.
The first person to act in the command phase is the dragon who took the initiative. Miniatures can either 'move + action' or 're-sort' only once per round. The movement of the miniature is written on the upper left of the tile, the HP of the miniature is written on the upper right of the tile, and the action peculiar to the miniature is written on the bottom of the tile.
For example, Wolf Drake has a movement of 4, so you can move up to 4 squares.
In addition, Wolfdrake can activate an action called 'weakness exploration' that determines weaknesses in one adjacent hexgias area. In the situation in the image below, Wolfdrake can check which of the two places with the red frame is a weakness. The part to be searched is specified by a number such as '(from the front) ○ th'.
The dragon side declares that it will search for the third weakness. When the Knights turned over the designated weakness tile, a mark indicating armor was displayed. It wasn't a weak point, so it seems that Hexgias will not be attacked for the time being.
Attach a marker to the pedestal of the hex gears to indicate the armor. Also, place an acted marker next to the finished Wolf Drake.
On the other hand, the Knights moved the heavy armor to the square next to Wolfdrake on their turn. Heavy armor can deal 1 damage to an adjacent drake.
Wolfdrake, who has only 1 HP, has been killed by heavy armed soldiers. The killed miniature is forcibly withdrawn to the base area at the edge of the battlefield.
In addition, the Knights will place the cavalry next to the dragon and explore their weaknesses.
When the dragon side turns over the weakness tile of the specified search location, an icon indicating 'weakness' appears. Now that the dragon's weakness has been identified, the Knights will be able to attack the dragon's side by attacking this weakness.
When both sides have finished all their turns in the command phase, we will perform the 'end phase'. Discard the used initiative card and 3 control cards. Then, select two control cards from the discard cards, return them to your hand, and move on to the next round.
In order to damage your opponent, you must attack the weaknesses of the hex gears / dragon with the Knights / Drake Miniature. However, when attacking between hex gears / dragons, the damage will be dealt as it is regardless of the weakness. For example, in the second round of the Control Phase, the dragon that took the initiative has narrowed the distance to attack Hexgias.
The Knights, who had read that 'probably a dragon will set up,' turned down the hex gears attack card 'Magic Attack' to Control 1. This magical attack is a card that can deal 3 damage to 1 square diagonally in front of the hex gears.
The dragon, who intended to close the distance but jumped into the range of Hexgias, was attacked by a magical attack and suffered 3 damage. The dragon side moves 3 HP markers from the HP marker storage area on the left side of the base to the damage marker storage area on the right side of the base.
However, the dragon side was also playing the special card 'Inferno'. The special card is a powerful attack that can be launched by paying the cost, and 'Inferno' can do 2 damage to the front 2 squares. If the attack hits further, you can inflict 1 additional damage to the soul.
However, the dragon must move one HP marker to the damage marker area in order to activate Inferno.
The Knights have moved two HP markers and one soul marker to the damage marker yard. Unlike the Dragon side, which has 10 HP markers, the Knights side is defeated when all 3 red soul markers are lost, so the damage to the soul is very serious.
Furthermore, in the command phase, the dragon side searched for the weakness of Hexgias ...
What a 'true weakness' has been identified. The true weakness is not only to take 1 damage when attacked, but also to discard 1 card from your hand. As your hand decreases, you will have fewer actions to choose from during the control phase, making it even more likely to be at a disadvantage.
The attack range of Hexgias, which basically has to fight with a sword and magic, is short. The dragon will attack at the chance of approaching, but ...
The dragon chops the steps and dodges them.
When I noticed, Hexgias was taken behind by a dragon.
Furthermore, since Hexgias rushed into the enemy's camp first, the attack point was searched more and more, and both the weak point and the true weak point were identified.
However, the Knights will be defeated automatically when the 5th round is over, so there is no choice but to repeatedly attack and reduce the opponent's HP. Therefore, the Knights set out a large number to ensure that they could take the initiative, and once they went back and turned around, they decided to activate the special card 'Arrow of the Soul'.
Soul Arrow is a technique that can be activated by moving the soul marker in the damage marker yard to the discard yard. It is a valuable long-range attack that can deal damage 2 forward and diagonally to the right.
On the other hand, the dragon cuts himself and activates 'Inferno' again, and goes into a strategy of moving around while stepping.
The red arrow is the attack range of the 'Soul Arrow', but the dragon was able to exquisitely escape the range of Hexgias.
Then, in the command phase, Hexgias was attacked by two weak points, and the Knights lost all HP markers, so the game ended. Mankind has been defeated by the onslaught of dragons.
In the case of 3-4 players, 2 players vs. 1-2 players will be played separately. The rules are basically the same as for 2 players, but for 3-4 players, a 3-4 player card will be added.
The 3- to 4-player card is a powerful card that both sides come into play at the same time during the Initiative Phase. Depending on the effect, it is also possible to reverse the disadvantageous situation.
In the case of 3-4 players, one camp will be played by 2 players. A two-person haori system in which one controls the hex gears / dragon in the control phase and the other takes command of the knights / drake in the command phase. We will talk secretly with our friends, devise a strategy and play.
◆ Impressions
The first thing that catches the eye with Dragon Gyas is the miniature modeling. It's palm-sized, but it's very elaborate, and it's more than enough for ornamental use, not for games. If you have no experience in making plastic models or miniatures, you may have the impression that it will take a lot of effort to assemble, but if you take the time to make it carefully, it will be assembled without problems. Also, in plastic kits, the seams of the parts often look awkward, but the seams are designed to be inconspicuous, and if you carefully treat the runner gate marks, they will look awkward. It is not.
You can play the game with cardboard + stand pieces, but since the miniatures are well made, playing with the miniatures will improve the role-playing and immersive feeling in the world of the game. The molding colors are only white and black, but you can also paint the miniature with a miniature paint such as Citadel color.
The game itself is a two-player board game like shogi, but the difference from shogi is that the power balance between the knights and the dragon is not symmetrical. When I actually played it, the attack of Hexgias has a short range and the attack power is not very high, so the impression that the Knights are likely to be in a very difficult situation. Since the battlefield is not so wide, the hex gears and the dragon will collide with each other, and the knights are more likely to meet the defeat conditions, so the knights tend to be in a disadvantageous situation. The Knights are always required to have advanced reading and strategy, so the difficulty of playing is high.
On the other hand, on the dragon side, the firepower of the dragon is high and many of them have a long attack range, so you can fully enjoy the feeling of overrunning humankind. Some editorial staff members who actually played the game said, 'Dragon feels good to play!'
Also, one of the attractions of the game is the bargaining that combines the initiative card and the 3-4 player card, so you can play against 3-4 players without any problems. Furthermore, it is a nice point to be able to play alone by using a card for solo play.
Dragon Gyas is scheduled to be sold to the general public on Saturday, February 27, 2021, and the suggested retail price is 16,500 yen including tax. It is also available on Amazon.co.jp.
Amazon | Max Factory Dragon Gyas Board Game | Board Game | Toys
Related Posts:
