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Publisher blurb

Including a total of 180 plastic figures and dozens of unit types, Starcraft: The Board Game features an innovative modular board of varying sizes, which guarantees a new experience each and every game. An exciting card driven combat system allows players to modify and upgrade their faction with a wealth of powerful technologies. Players can unleash a Zergling rush, use powerful Protoss shields to halt an enemy invasion, or even send cloaked Ghosts out to guide nuclear missiles to their target.

Description

In StarCraft: The Board Game, players battle for galactic domination on a dynamic board of interconnected planets. Planetary setup is already part of the game - every player gets two planets to place, and will place their starting base on one of them. Planets are connected with direct and "Z-Axis" connections that are placed during setup, but can sometimes later be modified during the game, and movement is only possible within planets and through those connections (by means of purpose-built transports).

Each player controls a faction out of six, that belongs to one race out of three - Humans, Zerg, and Protoss. Each faction has a unique special victory condition, but all factions can also win through victory points that are gained by controlling special areas on some of the planets. Players build units and base upgrades with the resources they gather from the planetary areas that they control, and gain access to additional unit types through those upgrades.

Each turn is subdivided into first a planning phase, then an execution phase, and finally a regrouping phase (used for cleanup). In the planning phase, players take turns playing a number of order tokens into stacks on each planet, with orders placed later obstructing the ones that were placed before them. This allows players to set up combos of their own, but also to obstruct plans of other players. In the execution phase then, players take turns again, and when a player's turn comes up he can choose one of his order tokens on top of any stack and execute that one - if all of their orders are obstructed, they skip their action and draw an event card instead. The execution phase isn't over until all players executed all of their orders. Possible orders are Build (used for building both units and buildings), Mobilize (used for moving units and attacking enemies) and Research (see below), and orders can always be Standard Orders or Special Orders, with the special orders having prerequisites but stronger effects.

Players can also research new technologies and thus improve their combat deck in a precursor to more recent deck building mechanisms. Each player is given a combat deck unique for their race at the start of the game, and when they research new technologies then matching cards are added to that deck. This allows the players to customize what cards they will draw; when the last card of the deck is drawn, the deck is reshuffled. Most cards remain in the combat deck once researched, though some researched technologies add effects that are always in play, while some particularly strong combat cards are discarded after one use.

Note: This game is available by request only and requires having a membership to play.
See game associate for details.

From the Publisher's site

Take on the role of a chivalrous paladin or a wise shaman, a holy priest or a vile warlock, a mighty mage or a crafty rogue. Play as a savage orc, a mighty tauren, a tribal troll, or one of the Forsaken undead; become an ingenious gnome, a doughty dwarf, a mysterious Night Elf, or a noble human.

Based on the popular World of Warcraft Massively Multiplayer Online Game from Blizzard Entertainment, World of Warcraft: the Board Game invites the players to choose from 16 characters, drawn from the eight races and nine character classes of the Warcraft universe, and take up arms for the glory of the Horde ... or the Alliance. Travel across Lordaeron, vanquish monsters, gain experience and power, and earn honor for your faction.

World of Warcraft: the Board Game is a team-based fantasy adventure. The Horde and the Alliance factions must compete to be the first to defeat the invincible Overlord – be it the lich-king Kel'Thuzad, the dragon Nefarian, or the demon Kazzak – or, failing that, to be the last faction standing when it comes to all-out war!

Philippe Keyaerts scored gold with Small World, a new version of his Vinci that was released by Days of Wonder in 2009 to great acclaim and numerous awards. With Olympos, coming from French publisher Ystari Games, Keyaerts has another go at the simplified civilization game. The playing time for Olympos is only 60-90 minutes for 3-5 players, but says Ystari's Cyril Demaegd, "Even if it's a short game, it's a gamer's game."

Players take actions based on their position on a time track, along the lines of Peter Prinz' Thebes. (Says Demaegd, "This is mainly a coincidence because Philippe designed this game years ago.") By spending time, players take actions, with the choices being expansion or development. Expanding brings new settlers onto the game board, which depicts Greece and Atlantis, which lets you conquer territories and thereby acquire resources.

Development takes place on the game's discovery board, with players either buying new scientific discoveries – such as medicine or phalanxes – or building architectural wonders. Each discovery brings you new powers, such as an upgrade in military strength due to the phalanx, and each wonder earns you points.

A player's piety is measured by discoveries, and the most pious player might be rewarded during the game by one of the nine gods included. Similarly, the less pious players might be punished by those same gods.

The replayability of Olympos is huge, says Demaegd, as the discovery board and gods in play will be different each game, not to mention the territories you're able to conquer.

In The Ares Project, 2-4 players are competing to see which of their factions will lead mankind into the future. Each faction has its own deck of cards, buildings, upgrades, attacks, special powers, and a screen behind which a player will play cards. Your opponents do not know what you are building. When a player lays down an attack card, he chooses an opponent, the players drop their screens, and they battle for control of the Frontier, i.e. the center of the table. Whoever controls the Frontier scores points and also has the ability to attack player bases directly. Eliminate your opponent to win instantly, or have the most points when the game ends.

This text refers to the Queen 2007 reprint. The older edition had players write down their viking orders and was two rounds longer.

In Eketorp, players build Viking strongholds upon the Swedish island of Öland.

The goal of the game is to collect the most valuable blocks to build your own fortress, either by winning battles on the resource spaces or by stealing blocks from other vikings.

Each turn, new resources appear and the players secretly plan their viking movements. After all the placements are revealed, vikings battle each other for blocks (with the losers sent off to the field hospital to recover). The game ends after a set number of rounds, or when one of the players has succeeded in finishing their fortress.