Heroes of Land, Air & Sea - Epic Strategy Board Game for Adults & Teens - Perfect for Game Nights & Family Gatherings

Well its been a while since I’ve had a chance to sit down and write anything up, but that hasn’t stopped me from gaming! My most recent purchase…which there have been a lot over the last few months…is Heroes of Land Air and Sea. Some have described this as a copy of Warcraft, and I can say I see the similarities, but at the same time I can see an amazing game that veers off in its own direction…Well its been a while since I’ve had a chance to sit down and write anything up, but that hasn’t stopped me from gaming! My most recent purchase…which there have been a lot over the last few months…is Heroes of Land Air and Sea. The premise here is simple: Aughmoore is in turmoil as the various races scramble to lay the foundations of an empire. Some have described this as a copy of Warcraft, and I can say I see the similarities, but at the same time I can see an amazing game that veers off in its own direction…Right away you can see just from the core box cover that we are drawing on some very common tropes…Orcs, Dwarves, Elves and Humans battling it out in a fantasy world. But ultimately you have a 4x game that embraces the Explore, Expand, Exploit and Exterminate montra regardless of what kind of artwork you slap on it.The game shines right out of the box. You get a huge map that features four continents for your four fledgling societies to develop, you get miniatures four very different factions…each with their own unique player boards, and a slew of punchboards that not only feature tokens but also beautiful 3d builds of air and sea vessels for each faction. I absolutely love the uniqueness of each race…so much so, that I immediately purchases the other two big box expansions so that I could have all of the races! Now I have Lions, Goblins, Lizards, Undead, Birdmen, & Merfolks in addition to the four original factions!!!Components…can I just say WOW! The miniatures are amazing…absolutely gorgeous! The board is beautiful with vibrant colors, clear & concise images, and very well laid out (you can reach any part of the map from your home continent). The punch board ships are SO cool looking, and each race’s ships are unique…from steam powered Goblin ships to rafts made out of logs for the Lizardfolk! Such a nice aesthetic that really helps immerse you in the theme.Once you have recovered from the spectacle that opening this HUGE box is, you get to dive into play. This game is so simple on its surface…you get two actions to perform each turn. You can take a Capital Action, which the other players can also perform by committing a Serf, or Conquest Action which can’t be followed by other players, but you can do two of!This presents such a delicate balancing act when its your turn…do you let others act during your turn by choosing a Capital Action or do you wait until they have spent all of their serfs so they can’t capitalize on your moves. After each person has chosen their actions, the turn shifts to resource collection. This is where you’ll collect one of the three resources (food, mana, ore) depending on which lands you are in control of. You then start a new turn and the cycle continues until one of four events triggers an end game victory point count.The four end game conditions are the 4xs…Explore, Exploit, Expand, Exterminate. Explore is possibly the hardest trigger…the board has to have ALL of the exploration tokens revealed…and they are on every territory of every continent and ocean space! Exploit involves building all three of your towers…and they have to be on three different continents…an easier thing to do, but everyone can see very clearly how close you are getting to ending the game. Expand is simply getting all of your serfs and warriors on the board…again, not too difficult. The final end game trigger is the hardest in my opinion…extermination. To accomplish this is to defeat one player’s capital…a herculean accomplishment to say the least. Remember that player board pictured above…well ALL of those figures are in your capital region…ALL OF THEM! Yet an attacking player can only ever move 5 figures in an army…so they will inevitably be outnumbered. I have yet to see extermination trigger the game end.We can’t mention extermination without discussing how battles work…its a slick, intuitive system! Players will calculate the raw strength of units that are involved in the combat…this can be armies, ships, towers and capital cities. Once the combatants have their totals the defender will have the option of playing a spell card into the battle…followed by the attacker. These can dramatically change the surface of the combat…killing figures before they even get a chance to fight (and casting spells gives you victory points)! Once each player has chosen to play or not to play a spell, they will refer to their tactics cards (every player has the same cards) and choose the one they wish to fight with. These all have combat values, some negate other cards or give bonuses vs certain cards…and they also have a price you must pay in order to play them (you can also sacrifice troops to make the cards cheaper or even free). This is the chess game of Heroes of Land Air and Sea. You have to weigh very carefully what your opponent might play vs what you have to play to win the fight. After the cards are revealed, the total strengths are counted up and a victor is determined. The loser loses half their original raw strength plus sacrifices, and the victor loses NOTHING except figures they may have sacrificed.Once any one of the game end triggers are achieved, you simply count up your victory points…which are for the most part all on your player board. You get them for level of capital, how many towers you have built ( and the points are based on the distance from your capital), how many warriors you’ve built, and all of your heroes/boat/air ship gives you vp as well. And thats it…a simple game on the surface but full of deep strategy and tactics.I have to admit I was intimidated by the price tag. This game retails in most places around 80-95 US dollars, and that’s a lot of money…not to mention the $35-$55 for each of the big box expansions. However, I’m here to tell you…I have NO REGRETS of buying all three boxes! This game will see A LOT of playing time. My group members are already talking about buying their own copy for those times they can’t get together with me! Yes…its that good. I’d highly recommend this one if you are looking for a 4x game…not many compare (maybe Star Trek Ascendancy).Fun game. Ends somewhat abruptly just as it's getting going, but doesn't outstay its welcome. Kind of a 4x lite style experience that I'm definitely looking forward to playing more. All in all a good purchase that could use maybe a bit more variety, but fun to play regardless.Most games like this cost over $100. We decided to get the game after buying and playing tiny epic Galaxy. This game was advertised on the box. My husband is huge into table top games and we have a good collection. This one beats them all.It's a fun little project to put together. Takes about 2hrs for one person. At first it looked intimidating to play, but it's actually quite easy. No dice are used and rounds give you two actions and the chance to follow actions. It does take 2+ hours to play with just 2 people.What really drew me to this was that you can also play it single player. The character boards are double sided.The parts are really strong and we'll built. The materials used to construct the various structures are made from high quality material that will hold up.Bottom line. It's so worth the money!The review asked me to rate this board game’s “thickness”. I suppose if one is to use such words it is quite “meaty” since it features a crap ton of three dimensional miniatures and cardboard cut outs. An easy five out of five stars. Every faction brings with it a new Facet of strategy and uniqueness that reminds me of a board game version of Heroes of Might & Magic. Now I only wish that I could keep my gaming group’s attention for a game that requires more than 60 seconds to learn. There are YouTube videos to help guide you as you learn the gameplay.I was extremely excited to play this game! As I opened the package, I realized that the plastic stands used to hold the air vessels above the playing board were broken. Actually, shattered is a better term. The box is fine, so it didn't happen in shipping. After reading though the rules, I can tell it is going to be a great game. I just wish the pieces we not broken.Update: I emailed the game company and they immediately responses by shipping me replacements for the broken pieces. They even used 3 day shipping so it would arrive quickly! I have also played one complete run through of the game and it is an amazing game! 5 stars for the game and the spectacular customer service!!Absolute fun! Will have to play several more times to get how each faction plays (there's a bit of asymmetry that one should take advantage).The plastic stands for the airship came in pieces but the seller put me in touch with a company that offers replacements and mine came quickly. I would trust this seller for other buys.I highly recommend this game. It's one of the best games I've played out of many. The only problem with this game is that due to the design of the bases and slightly insufficient packaging, most people will probably have at least one broken. This is not a crucial problem but is worth noting.Love the game! Came really quick. However, I do have one issue. The stands for the air units all came smashed to bits