Take That

The Dragon Hordes expansion (55 cards, two small pages of rules) to Warriors adds a new creature, the Dragon, along with additional Catapults and Attack Cards, and makes the game playable by up to 6 players.

Dragons, unlike other creatures, must attack and defend individually, but just one can wreak havoc. They roll two dice on both attack and defense, adding one to each die roll. Catapults have only one chance in 6 of killing Dragons, and their defense can be augmented by "Flames" (basically, extra lives that must be eliminated before the Dragon can be killed). Having the most Dragons at the end of the game also gains victory points.

Warriors is a card and dice-rolling game with a fantasy military theme. Each player begins with a randomly dealt army of 11 units. Most will be creatures of one of the game's 6 types (Barbarians, Goblins, Elves, Trolls, Dwarves, Undead). A lucky player may also get Wizards (which protect creatures of one type from attack) or Catapults (one-use weapons that have a 50/50 chance of destroying a target card). Creatures come in three varieties (infantry, archers, cavalry).

Armies are placed face-up in front of the players, and three rounds of warfare ensue. At the start of each round, players receive additional cards, including the vital Attack Cards, without which an army can only stand on the defensive. Attack cards are of two types. One ("Battle") allows all of a player's creatures of one type to attack creatures of either the same type or the type that the attacker most dislikes. Elves, for instance, may attack an opponent's Elves or his Trolls (the Elves' "natural enemy".) The other type of Attack Card ("Mercenary Army") allows creatures of different types to combine in an attack against creatures of any one type, but limits the number of attackers. Attack Cards also provide various bonuses to the attacker.

The resolution of attacks is modeled on Risk. The attacker rolls up to three dice, the defender up to two (the number depending on how many infantry each side has in the battle). The side with more archers, if either, adds one to its high die roll. The highest and second highest rolls for each side are compared, and the low roller in each loses a card (with the defender winning ties). The attack continues until one side is wiped out or the attacker voluntarily breaks off. Attackers with surviving cavalry can then make further attacks.

Players gain victory points for enemy units destroyed and for having the most creatures of a particular type at the end of the third round of play.

One Thousand Milestones. On French roads there are small marker stones giving the distance in kilometres to the next town. In this famous old French card game, players compete to drive 1000 km, dealing with hazards along the way. Draw a card to your hand, play or discard. You must lay a green traffic light to start, play cards showing mileage, dump hazards (flat tire, speed limit) on the other players, remedy hazards (spare tire, end of limit) from yourself, play safety cards (puncture proof), and try to be the first to clock up the distance.

Players begin with a ship, and travel from planet to planet, hiring crew, purchasing ship upgrades, and picking up cargo to deliver (jobs) all in the form of cards. Some crew and cargo are illegal, and can be confiscated if your ship is boarded by an alliance vessel. Travelling from planet to planet requires turning over "full burn" cards, one for each space moved. Most do nothing, but you can also encounter an Alliance ship, have a breakdown, or even run into Reavers. Completing jobs gets you cash. First player to complete the story goals wins.

Game description from the publisher:

In Firefly: The Game – based on the popular Firefly television series created by Joss Whedon – players captain their own Firefly-class transport ship, traveling the 'Verse with a handpicked crew of fighters, mechanics and other travelers. As a captain desperate for work, players are compelled to take on any job — so long as it pays. Double-dealing employers, heavy-handed Alliance patrols, and marauding Reavers are all in a day's work for a ship's captain at the edge of the 'Verse. Firefly: The Game is a high-end thematic tabletop boardgame from Gale Force Nine (GF9) and the first in a series of tabletop hobby board games and miniatures games from GF9 set in the Firefly Universe.

Build a galactic empire... In the depths of space, the alien races of the Cosmos vie with each other for control of the universe. Alliances form and shift from moment to moment, while cataclysmic battles send starships screaming into the warp. Players choose from dozens of alien races, each with its own unique power to further its efforts to build an empire that spans the galaxy.

Many classic aliens from earlier editions of this beloved game return, such as the Oracle, the Loser, and the Clone. Newly discovered aliens also join the fray, including Remora, Mite, and Tick-Tock. This classic game of alien politics returns from the warp once more.

In Cosmic Encounter, each player is the leader of an alien race. On a player's turn, he or she becomes the offense. The offense encounters another player on a planet by moving a group of his or her ships through the hyperspace gate to that planet. The offense draws from the destiny deck which contains colors, wilds and specials. He or she then takes the hyperspace gate and points at one planet in the system indicated by the drawn destiny card. The offense vs. the defenses ships are in the encounter and both sides are able to invite allies, play an encounter card as well as special cards to try and tip the encounter in their favor.

The object of the game is to establish colonies in other players' planetary systems. Players take turns trying to establish colonies. The winner(s) are the first player(s) to have five colonies on any planets outside his or her home system. A player does not need to have colonies in all of the systems, just colonies on five planets outside his or her home system. These colonies may all be in one system or scattered over multiple systems. The players must use force, cunning, and diplomacy to ensure their victory.