Tag Archives: card games

Gaming Round-Up: Mods, Demos, and Ashes

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Feels like we’re about due for another post on odds and ends of my recent gaming not covered by other posts.

Breaking the fourth wall in the Section 13 demo.RTS mods

Finishing all those Age of Empires campaigns a few weeks back didn’t entirely quell my RTS lust, and I ended up turning to the modding community for more options.

Firstly, I did end up trying that Swedish campaign for AoE3. For fan-made, it was pretty decent, but still well below the quality of professional content, and I quickly remembered why AoE3 is my least favourite installment of the franchise, so I didn’t make it that far before losing interest.

Next, I was looking for some good PvE custom maps for Warcraft III: Reforged. The problem with that is that most of them are RPG campaigns or MOBA-like modes or otherwise radically different from the baseline Warcraft III experience, and I just… like… wanted to play more Warcraft III. A lot of mods aren’t compatible with Reforged, either, and I can’t go back to the old graphics at this point.

I did find one interesting option, though: Advanced Melee AI (AMAI) updates the skirmish AI to behave more like a real person, with more diverse strategies.

The Advanced Melee AI puts me in my place in Warcraft III: Reforged.It may succeed in its goal of replicating ladder players a little too well. I got tower rushed my first game. On the plus side, it did make for a fun comeback as I eventually broke free of the choking siege.

The AI is also programmed to periodically trash-talk you, which is… something. It hasn’t thrown any racial slurs or threats of sexual violence at me, though, so we haven’t quite perfectly replicated a real gamer yet.

I wouldn’t say it’s a perfect solution to skirmishes quickly getting stale, but it definitely added some variety, and I got a good few hours of fun out of it. I’m not ruling out playing more in future, either. Still wish I could have found some proper custom campaign-style missions using the original factions, though.

A Warcraft III version of StarCraft II co-op missions is probably too much to hope for, but it doesn’t stop a man from dreaming.

Steam demos

I’ve tried out a few more Steam demos lately. Most were swiftly uninstalled and forgotten, but a few stood out.

I actually quite liked Section 13 aside from the fact it’s a roguelike. After running the first mission at least three times without beating it, I just lost patience, but I did like the art style and the humour a lot, and the combat was mostly enjoyable. I find the roguelike and soulslike trends have ruined a lot of what would otherwise been great games.

One that did make it onto my wishlist is Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon. Gameplay-wise it’s sort of like a low budget Skyrim, which isn’t my favourite thing, but the story was actually pretty intriguing. It’s allegedly based on Arthurian mythology, but aside from using some familiar names it’s pretty much its own thing.  The music and voice-acting were top notch, too, and I really liked the twisted visual aesthetic.

I probably wouldn’t pay full price for it, but it’s definitely something I might pick up on sale one day. I am curious to see where this story goes.

Ashes: Red Rains

I haven’t been playing physical card games as much these days, partly due to a certain degree of burnout and partly due to my ever-worsening mental health leaving me with little energy to, but I did stumble across a new (to me) game I wanted to try.

A promotional image of some cards from Ashes Reborn Red Rains: The Corpse of Viros.Ashes — later rebranded as Ashes Reborn and now rebranding again as Ashes Ascendancy — was originally envisioned as a competitive card game but has since added robust solo/co-op support with the Red Rains expansion line and the upcoming Ascendancy expansions. Intrigued, I picked up The Corpse of Viros, a de facto starter set for the Red Rains line.

I’ve only played one game so far, so I’m still making up my mind, but my early impression is mostly positive with a few quibbles.

The onboarding experience could have been better. The layout of the rulebook wasn’t always intuitive, and the starter deck they give you didn’t feel like it had reliable tools for dealing with all the boss’s mechanics.

The card art isn’t bad, but it isn’t amazing, either. I also would have liked some more context on the lore. There’s basically nothing on the setting, the characters you’re playing, or the boss you’re fighting. I don’t expect much story in a card game — I actually find the amount of story in something like Arkham Horror LCG a bit tiresome — but give me something.

On the other hand, I like how the resource mechanic is based on rolling a dice pool every round, which makes you adapt your strategy on the fly a bit, and the way they implemented escalating boss phases was really cool. In general it feels a bit more dynamic and less predictable than I’m used to solo card games being.

I don’t think I’m going to go all-in on this one like I did with Lord of the Rings LCG (I might have considered it if I was still at the peak of my card game obsession), but I’ll probably pick up a couple more expansions.

Defiance of the East, a Fan-Made Expansion for Lord of the Rings LCG

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The Red Book of Westmarch speaks little of the Easterlings, and describes them only as enemies of the West. Indeed many among them were of wicked disposition, their hearts clouded by the evil of Mordor.

But there were those among them who resisted. A few among them rejected the rule of Sauron and the worship of Melkor. Guided by the mentorship of the Blue Wizards, they conducted a secret war through many long years, weakening the armies of the Eastrons from within. Great was their suffering, and their sacrifices, their courage unrecorded in the lays of the West.

Defiance of the East – Fan-made Player Card Expansion

Over the past year or so, I’ve become quite a fan of Lord of the Rings: The Card Game. Being me, this inevitably led me down the road of creating custom content, the game already having a thriving fan content community thanks to the efforts of A Long Extended Party and other creators.

A custom card created for Lord of the Rings: The Card Game.My inspiration came from the Harad player card archetype featured in the game’s Haradrim cycle. I loved the idea of exploring one of Middle-Earth’s cultures traditionally viewed as an enemy and giving voice to those among them who rejected Sauron’s rule. It’s a great way to modernize and diversify the setting while respecting the original lore.

I thought it would be a wonderful idea to do the same for the other big faction of Men under Sauron’s rule, the Easterlings. But with the game in functional maintenance mode with no new content planned, it seemed unlikely the developers would fill this gap. Thus, I took it upon myself to explore the idea of a player Easterling archetype.

I envisioned a hidden resistance movement, sabotaging Sauron’s forces in the East and eventually revealing themselves in a glorious final stand during the War of the Ring.

I created twenty new cards, including four heroes, enough to build a full deck of Easterling characters, provided you flesh it out with a few cards from the official pool (I recommend Valiant Sacrifice). The cards have been play-tested (in true solo only so far) and already gone through a few rounds of adjustments to get the balance right.

The link in the header above contains all cards, including versions with extra bleed for easier printing. Art was found via Google image search. I’ve done my best to credit the original artists on all of the cards, but there’s a few I couldn’t track down a source for. Those are listed as “unknown” – if anyone knows the original artists for those, let me know, and I’ll add them.

A custom card created for Lord of the Rings: The Card Game.When it comes to mechanics, I wanted to explore themes of resilience and sacrifice. I drew inspiration from the Dunedain archetype and the Survivor class in the Arkham Horror LCG and developed a theme around resisting or even benefiting from treachery cards. There’s also a sub-theme of sacrificial allies.

The archetype is designed with true solo play in mind, as its how I usually play and fits the themes of an isolated resistance movement. Throwing all those treacheries out could be troublesome for your allies in multiplayer. That said, multiplayer should still be possible with careful planning; the Courage Unrecorded event allows you to protect your allies from Treachery effects while still gaining their benefits.

Having now played with the Easterling deck a few times, I’ve found it does present a unique feel compared to the game’s other archetypes. The Easterlings tend to boast weak stats, but their emphasis on direct damage and progress allow them to overcome this seeming disadvantage. Their Falcons and Messengers clear locations with ease, while their Martyrs can tear through powerful foes at the cost of their own lives, especially when the Easterlings find their Rebellion Unmasked.

The way these mechanics side-step usual obstacles like threat and defense scores reinforces the idea that this is a hidden movement working behind the scenes. Meanwhile, their cheap allies, strong economy, and heavy recursion allow them to easily recover from setbacks, capturing their resilience in the face of impossible odds.

If anyone does end up playing with these cards, do let me know your experience. I’d love to hear any feedback you may have.