Tuesday, May 03, 2022

#8: Unmatched: Battle of Legends (Mark's Top 100 2022)


Unmatched: Battle of Legends
BoardGameGeek
  • rank: 241
  • rating: 7.9
  • published: 2019
Print Status
  • in print
Why It's On The List
  • Take the basic card combat idea behind Star Wars: Epic Duels... add in the brilliant LOS board configuration system from Tannhäuser...and infuse the game thematically with a "mix of characters across time & reality" vibe from Heroscape... and then do a top-notch production job... and you've got Unmatched.
Tips & Tricks:
  • One of the biggest issues in Epic Duels (the need of some characters to turtle for multiple turns in order to make decent attacks) is fixed here... both by better balancing the decks AND by instituting a "getting to the end of your deck" penalty.
  • Each character/team has different strengths and weaknesses... you cannot play each character the same way and be successful.
  • The character receiving the least love out of the gate was King Arthur... but I've managed to pull off some wins with him by playing the cards in his deck, not the cards I wish he had.
  • Some of the newer boxes (and there are a LOT of them) have more complicated decks - but I'm happy to have the variety in play styles and characters.
    Extras
    • This is the seventh of eight (8!) Rob Daviau games that will appear on my top 100 list this time around. 
    • Some quick thoughts on the various boxes - all of which are stand-alone expansions:
      • Robin Hood vs Big Foot - the best introduction if you're not sure about the series... two great characters and two great maps
      • Cobble & Fog - two more great maps with four excellent characters - though three of the four characters are not quite as straightforward to play
      • InGen vs Raptors - my least favorite map, though both characters are fun to play
      • Buffy the Vampire Slayer - two more excellent maps... don't love the Buffy character in 1v1 play but otherwise a fan of this box
      • Volume II - a great map and four excellent medium-difficulty characters
      • Bruce Lee - a solo character (no map) that's a lot of fun to play
      • Little Red Riding Hood vs Beowulf - Red is tricky to play but really rewarding when you get it right
      • Marvel: Redemption Row and Marvel: Hell's Kitchen - the beginning of 3 hero boxes... and the interesting twists of the Marvel maps. These were just released.
    • My boys & I have been playtesters on 3 released boxes (Vol. II and the two Marvel boxes) as well the unreleased Marvel boxes and other stuff which I can't talk about (yet)!
    • I've written a review of the system for the Opinionated Gamers... and followed it up with a review of Buffy & Little Red.

    No comments:

    Post a Comment