Cost: $20 From: Pressman Players: 2 Playing Time: 30-60 minutes Type of game: Action Complexity: 2 Skill level: 8 Reviewed by: Peter Sarrett, Issue 3.1, Winter 1994
I'm leading off with this game for one reason, and one reason only: it lets you fling stuff across the room. Cool.
Weapons and Warriors is the kind of game I always wanted to get as a child. Instead, my parents always gave me more cerebral fare like "Space 1999: The Game." Actually, I'm not sure they even had games like this when I was a kid. Instead, I made my own by forming bombs out of popsicle sticks, lining them up at the top of my room's door frame and detonating them with rubber bands from across the room. There's an undeniable primal pleasure in hitting a target and making something explode. I used to shatter those popsicle stick bombs for hours. Weapons and Warriors crafts a basic game around this basic premise, but the stuff they give you to work with is much cooler than rubber bands and popsicle sticks. It's rubber bands and plastic. =)
First, the weapons. Each side gets two instruments of destruction, all of which use orange plastic "battle balls" as ammunition. Both sides come armed with a catapult, which turns out to be the most versatile and, I think, the most accurate weapon. A battle ball nestles in the scoop at the top of the catapult's arm, which you simply pull back and release. A guide arm at the base of the catapult helps to control its range. The defenders get a crossbow. Well, Pressman calls it a crossbow, but it doesn't fire bolts— just battle balls like everything else. It sure looks like a crossbow, complete with recurve. Load the battle ball, pull back the sliding trigger, and snap it loose to send the ball screaming across the floor. The crossbow is a deadly anti-personnel weapon. But the most powerful and frightening weapon is the cannon. Drop a battle ball into the loading hole and pull back the rubber band-tensioned trigger. The farther you pull, the more forceful the shot. And believe me, this sucker packs quite a punch. In fact, it's powerful enough that I'd be nervous about letting kids play with it. Battle balls richochet enough to make the threat of losing an eye more than just a tired cliche.
Next, the targets. The attackers hide behind one three-man defense shield and four one-man battle shield. The defense shield has three trigger points (one per soldier). When hit with sufficient force, they send the soldier tumbling through the air in an immensely satisfying arc. Likewise with each battle shield, the triggers for which are especially well-suited to being hit by the defender's crossbow. The defenders have the really cool targets, sprinkled throughout a castle. Two towers, a drawbridge, a portcullis, two castle walls, a keep, and a pair of double doors provide ample opportunities for the attackers to score hits. Between the two sides stretches an oaktag path with a forest in the middle. Yes, a forest. With plastic trees which screw into place and provide limited cover for any soldiers which manage to get that far.
The game itself is a simple one. Both players start with thirteen soldiers. Nine of the defender's men are stationed within the castle and may not move. Seven of the attacker's men are likewise esconced behind their shields. The remaining soldiers line up in front of their side's defenses. Players take turns throwing a pair of "battle dice" yielding 2-6 points, each of which can be used to move a soldier one space or fire one shot from a weapon. All shots must be fired before any soldiers move. Why move your soldiers? Whenever you push a soldier forward, your weapons can be pushed along with him, closer to their targets. If the front man gets killed, weapons must be pulled back to the next soldier.
Soldiers can be killed in two ways. Stationary soldiers die if the trigger points they're standing on are hit and sprung. Note the caveat there. Some trigger points are remarkably difficult to spring, even when hit dead-on. After hitting them a few times with no result, you'll probably opt for method of death number two. If a soldier is knocked over by a direct hit from a battle-ball, the soldier is removed from the game. This is the only way to kill the movable soldiers. Players alternate turns until someone kills the last opposing soldier, winning the game. We usually play a two game match, switching sides after the first. If games are split, the match goes to whoever had more soldiers left in their victorious army.
The plastic components are largely well-crafted, but there are one or two spots which could have been better. One section of the castle wall is designed to fly apart when its trigger is hit, exposing the soldier hiding behind it. Unfortunately, the force of a battle ball's impact with the rest of the castle, especially if fired by the cannon, is usually enough to knock two of this section's three pieces to the ground. We got so tired of replacing them that we eventually decided to just eliminate them completely. Which is a real shame, because it's very satisfying when it actually explodes as it's intended. And as alluded to earlier, the central station of the defender's shield is virtually impossible to trigger. In fact, I don't think we've ever set it off. Invariably, the soldier manning that station is picked off by catapult instead. It's so much more satisfying to activate the triggers that it's a real disappointment to have to hit a soldier directly.
It took me about 90 minutes to punch and assemble everything when I first opened the box. It'll go faster with two people, but still be sure to allow some extra time for that first game. Besides the castle and shields, you'll assemble the oaktag path which stretches between the two sides and the forest which provides some cover for soldiers in the middle (although that cover is pretty useless against the crossbow). You'll also want a fairly enclosed space so you won't lose any battle balls or chase them all throughout the house.
Weapons and Warriors isn't complicated, and it isn't sophisticated. But for adults looking to recapture some of the exuberance of youth, it's a real hoot— at least, it is two or three times. Then you'll probably put it away and possibly pull it out a few years later when you're in a whimsical mood. Kids, of course, will probably play it over and over. And there are expansion sets...