Candy's Raves (and Rants)

I recently was looking for something for my 9 year old to do. With summer upon us he is cut off from the normal social activities that revolve around school. We went to a local games shop in Austin and we saw a group of teenagers engaged in Arcane Legions. My son was instantly interested and the kids were very nice and explained the basics to him. I was a little nervous at first. My husband played Warhammer 40k for years and literally has hundreds of dollars sunk into that hobby. But then I saw the prices. Comparing Warhammer figures to a similar number of Arcane Legions figures I’d say the cost is about 1/10 to 1/4!

Now my husband and son are both playing Arcane Legions. Here is a breakdown of how we see the game:

1.) The cost: As stated above its about 1/10 to 1/4 the total cost. The 2-player kit alone comes with enough figures for 12 units (4 per player).
2.) The figures: The figures are nicely detailed. You do have to paint most of them yourself. Some assembly is required. Additionally, all figures are plastic. There as no metal models that we have seen yet. The pre-painted models are very nice!
3.) The rules: The rules are pretty simple however leave a lot of room for different scenarios and levels of strategy.
4.) The community: While we cannot speak for the community at broad, the local community is very nice and not nearly as cutthroat and competitive as in similar games.
5.) Games go fast: The longest game I’ve played so far was 90 minutes and that was with 4 players. Most 2 player games go about 1/2 that.

What you will need to play:

While you can play some fun and fast games with the starter pack, you’ll want to get some additional packs if you are going to play competitively at your local hobby shop. Here is what I recommend:

1 Infantry set (comes in the starter box as well)
1 Calvary set
1 or more “Boosters” (special figures and units)

For less than [...] you can have 1 full 8000 point or more army ready to go!

Downsides:

1.) Custom Units: The game is touted as “Open Source” because you can use their online unit creator to customize your army. Sounds great, right? Except our local shops don’t allow custom unit cards. I suggest you ask your local coordinator before building an army around custom units.
2.) Bases: You figures must be attached to either a “Formation Base” or “Sortie Base” before they can be put into play. The 2-player starter kit could actually be a 3-player starter kit if they would just have provided a few more Formation Bases. This would have greatly improved the value. I also find that we are almost always short a formation base or two to truly create the army we want.
3.) Painting: While it is perfectly acceptable to play with unpainted figures, be aware that most people will at least put a basic paint job on their models. I suggest buying a can of appropriate colored spray on primer and at least one basic color to get the player started.

Final Words:

I highly recommend this game for the following:

Miniature gamers that want a fun secondary game.
Teenagers that want to get into miniatures but can’t afford games like Warhammer or Lord of the Rings.
Adults that want a fun, low cost diversion that they can share with their kids.

This is a great game and I can’t wait to see the community grow.

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