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1. Complex, Slow, Not Quite Fun
   By A. Smith on September 5th, 2010 at 7:49 pm:

   Horus Heresy is a Fantasy Flight “big box” game, which means that it ships in a box much larger than your copy of Chaos in the Old World or Arkham Horror, comes stamped with a high price tag, and has a ton of parts. Given its high price and epic production values, this game sets a standard for its own judgment. If it`s pricier, bigger, and has more stuff, it begs to be considered in an echelon of games above the likes of Chaos, Arkham, Dominion, because it seems that if FF would ask for more, they would certainly give more in turn…right?

   Well, yes and no. HH is a game of superb strengths and dismal weaknesses, and it is one of the most involved games I have ever played (this from someone who is working on the design of an RPG, and considers RIFTS to be rather light regarding rules!) As far as theme, scope, and presentation, HH rarely disappoints. Setting up the game board alone feels quite epic. As my opponent and I deployed our figures using the scenario guide, painstakingly trying not to miss a figure, I immediately began to see the possibilities for implementing strategies, and was also drawn in to the theme. Placing the mighty Warmaster Horus in his ship, for instance (which has its own small, separate map) tickled my imagination. This also goes to theme: the mythology of the Warhammer universe is incredibly integrated and feels very immediate and real. While Chaos is certainly one of the best modern games I`ve played, it pales in comparison to HH regarding theme. HH hints even further at the world of figure-painting and map-making of Warhammer`s home turf, and it is all the better for it.

   Horus Heresy`s presentation is awe-inspiring on first blush, and while it continues to pay off with exquisite artwork and production, there are some problems with the game that seem almost too large to have been forgotten when it came time to sell it. There are many, many figurines, each well-detailed and evocative, and the amount of different figurines, each with their own unique abilities, will impress your friends. The idea of showing the rank of the figures using their base is a fantastic means of including visual guidelines and removing more rule-book-referencing (if they could figure out how to squeeze in movement limits it would be a further plus!) There is a small slit in the back of each figure`s base that allows players to insert damage markers which is also an intelligent solution to reduce track-keeping. The 3D inserts that go into the map won`t necessarily invoke the imaginations of players. The paint jobs are muddy and lack detail, and feel much more mass-produced and flimsy than the rest of the game board (which unfortunately had a bit of warp to it) but the 3D inserts do create a more interesting topography than other map boards, and adds to that big box feeling of an epic presentation.

   The two major oversights in presentation and design are that the traitor`s Chaos Warband and Chaos Cultists are incredibly alike, to the point that they are nearly indistinguishable without their differing bases. One must hold the figure within inches of the eye–and in good light–to differentiate them. The second problem creates another impractical element to the game: the map sections are more often than not too small to house its figurines. For instance, it is literally impossible to balance all of the figures that go in the inner palace on initial setup, let alone to have any more figures there for combat. In large battles my opponent and I found ourselves displacing figures to other parts of the board to examine them and execute combat, as we simply could not manage it in the cramped 3D sections of the map, as well as other sections inter-cut by those 3D inserts. It can also be difficult to differentiate between the main heroes and villains (who for some reason are 2D cardboard) because they share similar color palettes and the cropping of the original paintings often rescales the illustration so they don`t match the provided reference sheets. The figurine and map issue are glaring errors that really should have been addressed by Fantasy Flight before this game was sold.

   HH`s game mechanic should theoretically overshadow the presentation–with all its bells and whistles, positives and negatives. Because while a game can be exquisite to look at for a while, after that first half hour or so the figures and the board become abstracted, and become mere markers for potential strategies and gameplay. The three mechanics of interest are the Initiative Track, a unique addition to player turn-order and a ticking clock that counts down to game-changing events and phases in the game as well as game end. The second solid mechanic is combat: when a fight breaks out players draw a hand of combat cards relative to their combined figure-rank, and play those cards both in attack and defense. This says something more about the game`s scope: an entire other game is played during battle rounds. Card battles can be exciting and certainly game-changing (they are battles, after all) and add color and shape to war that a mere handful of dice do not. The third mechanic of note, and perhaps the strongest and most exciting, is the player`s use of order cards (a whole different set of cards!) Order cards begin battles, redeploy figures, or build reinforcements, and are played at the expense of initiative. Cards can be played directly from a players hand at a sometimes high initiative cost, or placed on a strategic map to the right of the main map, and executed in later turns for a low initiative cost. Waiting to execute orders placed earlier in the game adds suspense and excitement, and some battles and map control can be won from playing orders on that strategic map alone. This is perhaps the most cerebral element of the game. The game mechanics in HH show how dedicated the designers were to adding scope, originality, and value to this production, and nearly account for the game`s shortcomings.

   I said before that HH is one of the most involved games I have ever played. This is what makes the game feel large and special, but also leaves it mired in too many tedious details. It is an involved game because of how large it is in scope- and this is a positive. Unlike in lighter, shorter games, players need not rigorously pursue a single trail to victory. The game gives enough room and size for a player to be working two separate strategies simultaneously, waiting for each to come to fruition, hoping and anticipating that their plans aren`t foiled by their opponent.

   The demanding rules are what makes HH “involved” to the game`s detriment. On my first, second and even third play through, I kept the rulebook in hand and tarried over the minor details, always missing some rule or another. First I neglected to understand or enforce activation markers, then movement limits, then card recycling, etc. It seemed that each time I was able to understand and implement a specific rule, I was missing another. To run this game properly is to run an unwieldy machine at times. Some rules seem absolutely necessary but easily neglected, while others seem unnecessary but rather brutal to one player or another, and easier to remember. So while FF delivers on scope, they over-deliver on a set of rules that can be oppressive and demoralizing when misunderstood or neglected.

   Horus Heresy certainly provides an epic experience. The scale and scope of the game is broad, the theme is well-integrated. And yet it is more of a major production than a good board game. The gameplay provides for fresh, detailed new mechanics, but the rules, some of them unwieldy and difficult to keep track of, some seeming a bit arbitrary and tacked on to add depth, disrupts the primary flow of the game. The presentation is at once awe-inspiring (with its diversity of figures and interesting map-features) and depressing (with the regrettable similarities between figurines and the cramped regions). Perhaps this is what makes a “big box” game, the unwieldy, pro-and-con nature of it adds to the sheer byzantine quality of the thing.

   Still, I have enjoyed other “big box” games with seemingly limitless amounts of rules, less attractive figures and productions, and not felt so tied down and disappointed (I`m looking at you, Twilight Imperium). So if you are looking for something big, unwieldy, even spectacular at times, you may be pleased with Horus Heresy, but if you are looking for a great game, and think that another $50 or so will get you there, I suggest you wait.

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