2018 (A flash forward)

Hey Game Fans, it’s that time of year again and we’re going to take a look at some new ideas and thoughts for what we’re going to do around the office for 2018 to keep bringing you spectacular content and new ideas about gaming. We have a cyclical relationship with games, and what that means to us is that we go through a cycle of engagement and disengagement with the games we love. This means we sort of lose track of them and pick up new, shiny things that we are interested in, and we’re in the middle of several of those cycles as we speak. So what does that mean for 2018?

Clan Abilities for Test of Honour (Prototype Ideas)

Hey Game Fans, I’m back with another article on our Favorite Miniature Game of 2017, Test of Honour.  I tossed out the Hand grenade question of “What if the historical samurai clans were upgrade cards you could put on your Samurai Heroes?”  on the facebook page last week and boy did it spawn a bunch of questions and answers.  The essence of that discussion boils down to “how would the abilities work and which clans would get which ability?”  As i have stated numerous times, i do not know enough about the history of Japan to be able to answer the second question.  This article is an approach to answering the first one.  Let’s dig in and see what this looks like.  

Test of Honour Unboxing (Geisha Spy)

Geisha Spy

Hey Game Fans, we’re back with an unboxing article on one of the expansion sets for Test of Honour.  We’re going to take a look at the figure, the cards, and any other odds and ends that come with it.  Let’s dig into the components and see what you can put together out of the box.

Test of Honour Unboxing (Unarmoured Samurai)

Unarmoured Samurai

Hey Game Fans, we’re back with an unboxing article on one of the expansion sets for Test of Honour.  Today we’re going to take a look at the Unarmoured Samurai clampack.  This is a single model pack with an upgrade card.  Let’s take a closer look at the pack, and then we’ll take a look at the upgrade card itself.

Test of Honour Unboxing (Dice and Cards)

Dice and Cards Expansion

Hey Game Fans, we’re back with an unboxing article on one of the expansion sets for Test of Honour.  Today we have the Dice and Cards expansion, which is one of the few expansions that doesn’t have any models in it.  This is a fairly easy expansion, with an assortment of dice and more quests, skills, injuries, and dishonor cards. Let’s dig into what’s precisely in the pack

Test of Honour (some deeper thoughts)

This is a reaction to the package that had my Cavalry bases for my Test of Honour mounted troops, and the bonus i was sent by the fine people at Warlord Games.  I received the Geisha Spy, and the Unarmoured Samurai clampacks (along with my 12 cavalry bases, thanks Andy). I’ve looked at the stat cards for both figures (and i am really impressed with the idea of the Unarmoured Samurai being an upgrade card, with a figure) and this started my mind working along two parallel ideas that i thought were interesting.  If you’ll put up with the rambling path this is going to take, see if you can follow my logic tree

Some thoughts for Expanding Test of Honour

Hey Game Fans, today we’re going to take a bit of a different look at Test of Honour.  We’ve done a lot of unboxing articles and shown you what you can find in most of the boxes (and the units and cards that come with), but today we’re going to take a look at what we would like to see for Test of Honour going forward, and things that we like about the game.  Without dithering much, let’s dig into the Wish List.

Test of Honour Unboxing (Daimyo's Retinue)

Daimyo’s Retinue

Hey Game Fans, we’re back with an unboxing article on one of the expansion sets for Test of Honour.  We’re going to take a look at the sprues, the cards, and any other odds and ends that come in the box.  Now most of these expansion sets (aside from the Samurai Warband) have additional metal components (typically metal heads) and a metal hero character.  Let’s dig into the components and see what you can put together out of the box.

Test of Honour Unboxing (Ronin)

Ronin

Hey Game Fans, we’re back with an unboxing article on one of the expansion sets for Test of Honour.  We’re going to take a look at the sprues, the cards, and any other odds and ends that come in the box.  Now most of these expansion sets (aside from the Samurai Warband) have additional metal components (typically metal heads) and a metal hero character.  Let’s dig into the components and see what you can put together out of the box.

Test of Honour (Skill Cards)

Hey Game Fans, we’re back with another article on our new favorite skirmish game, Test of Honour.  Today we’re going to finish up our look at the Starter Set by taking a look at the rest of the cards in the Starter Set.  These fall into one of three broad categories, Skills, Dishonor, and Injuries. Each of these interacts with the game in a different way and allow you to do things that operate outside the rules.  Let’s dig into the skill cards and see where we get to.

Test of Honour Unboxing (Pauper Soldiers)

Product Name

Hey Game Fans, we’re back with an unboxing article on one of the expansion sets for Test of Honour.  We’re going to take a look at the sprues, the cards, and any other odds and ends that come in the box.  Now most of these expansion sets (aside from the Samurai Warband) have additional metal components (typically metal heads) and a metal hero character.  Let’s dig into the components and see what you can put together out of the box.

Test of Honour Unboxing (Masked Men)

Masked Men

Hey Game Fans, we’re back with an unboxing article on one of the expansion sets for Test of Honour.  We’re going to take a look at the sprues, the cards, and any other odds and ends that come in the box.  Now most of these expansion sets (aside from the Samurai Warband) have additional metal components (typically metal heads) and a metal hero character.  Let’s dig into the components and see what you can put together out of the box.

Test of Honour Unboxing (Mounted Samurai)

Mounted Samurai

Hey Game Fans, we’re back with an unboxing article on one of the expansion sets for Test of Honour.  We’re going to take a look at the sprues, the cards, and any other odds and ends that come in the box.  Now most of these expansion sets (aside from the Samurai Warband) have additional metal components (typically metal heads) and a metal hero character.  Let’s dig into the components and see what you can put together out of the box.

 

Project Log and Miniature Mischief (End of September)

Hey Game Fans, we’re back with a bit of hobby update on the miniatures and other random wargaming stuff we do.  Currently there are a bunch of projects and other random crazy things we’re working on.  Right now I’m prioritizing the unbuilt/unassembled things that need to be glued to my fingers so i can get everything primed (and theoretically painted).  So we’re going to start in no particular order.

Test of Honour (The Core Mechanic)

Hey Game Fans, we’re back with another article on our new favorite skirmish game, Test of Honour.  Last week we put together an article about the Recruitment cards and how to read the Recruitment cards..  Today we’re going to talk about the Core Mechanic (and the dice rolled for the game).  This article might be a little shorter than the last one, but it’s covering a couple of important concepts.  The next one of these we’ll cover the mechanics of combat and how to cut the other guys down. 

Test of Honour (Recruitment Cards)

Hey Game Fans, we’re back with another article on our new favorite skirmish game, Test of Honour.  Last week we put together an article about how units activate, and we realized we sort of put the horse before the cart.  Today we’re going to talk about the Recruitment cards you use to build your force, and very briefly cover the attributes on the cards.  We’re only going to talk about the ones that come in the Starter Set, so you can familiarize yourself with these units before you start building your models.  

Test of Honour (Activation)

Hey Game Fans, we’re back with another article about our new favorite Skirmish game, Test of Honour.  Set in feudal Japan, Test is a fast paced game of historical violence.  It’s designed for a player to control between 5 and 25 models, with most games falling somewhere in between.  With fast task resolution and some interesting mechanics, we love the game (and now that we have our color scheme chosen, can start assembling our boxes).  Today we’re going to take a look at the Activation mechanism for the game.  Units activate in a dynamic fashion that keeps the game tense and the players guessing about how their tactics are going to unfold.  Let’s take a closer look at this, and show you one of the ways this game grabbed our attention during a demo.

Test of Honour (First Looks)

Test of Honour is a fast paced skirmish game from Warlord Games.   Set in Medieval Japan, it features clashes and confrontations between warring clans of Samurai and their peasant retainers.  Honour is a driving force in this era, and the game is fast paced, dynamic, and filled with excitement and the dice themselves can swing a glorious last stand into a rout of the enemy forces, or turn a sure victory into an ignominious defeat. Let’s take a closer look at Test of Honour and see what convinced me to buy a starter set this weekend at Recruits

 

Test of Honour (Unboxing Article)

Hey Game Fans, we’re back with an article on one of our new favorites, Test of Honour from Warlord Games.  It’s a skirmish game set in feudal Japan, and covers a variety of potential scenarios and army building choices.  Today we’re going to unbox the Test of Honour starter set (we picked our copy up at Recruits 26, this last weekend in Lee’s Summit) in pictures to try out a new format.  We’ve done unboxing videos in the past, but we’re going to try a photo gallery with words.  Let’s dig into Test of Honour and look at what’s in the box.

Overview

 

The Test of Honour Starter Set come with the components to make 35 plastic miniatures ( 20 Ashigaru spearmen, 10 Ashigaru bowmen/musketmen, and 5 Samurai).  It also has 10 specialty dice, 10 special plastic multibases, 21 Red Faction Recruitment Cards, 21 Blue Faction Recruitment Cards, 6 Injury Cards, 10 Dishonour Cards, 23 Skill Cards, a host of Tokens, and 2 Dimensional Terrain pieces.  

Let’s break down each of those things and take a closer look at the components to see just exactly what we’re talking about.