Today I am reviewing a new skirmish rule book sent to me by Lucid Eye Productions called The Red Book Of The Elf King and written by Rick Priestly of Games Workshop fame.
The rule book is set in LEP's world fantasy world called The Isles Of Eas where Elfs rule but not the kind of Elfs we are used to in most fantasy stories. This rule set uses LEP's growing miniatures line.
The book is formed around an Elf civil war and the book details a great out line to the world and the history surrounding it and explaining the war with the trolls.
The book its self is laid out very well starting with the background of the game which is important to the narrative of the main game.
The book clearly shows what you need to get started such as needing D6 dice of different colours and some D10s.
You will also need some tokens that will be used for actions and tokens for penalties which stop you making actions it will also be advised to get your self some wound markers too.
The game is designed in a way that you interact and reacted on players turns whether it be attacking or casting spells known as Glamours.
The Game focuses on choosing a Thane who has a particular discipline which there are a few laid out in the book. After this you go on to choose another 18 miniatures which are in groups of three that have different abilities and skills such as better hand to hand combat or they are better at sorcery for example.
These form what is called a Circle which you then use to fight in your battles along with your Thane.
The stat line for the game consist of
M (Move) A (Attack) R (Range) D (Defence) W (Wound) C (Courage) S (Special)
All of these stats are clearly laid out for all Thanes and groups of Circles in this book.
Once you an your opponent have decided on your miniatures you can then go on to choose your Glamours..
The Glamours are your Thanes spell pool which you choose up to seven by either random or choosing them tactically to fit your style of play.
All of the Glamours are in the rule book but you can also buy a deck from LEP.
The Thane has to roll equal to or under the value indicated on the Glamour but is helped out by their Glam bonus.
All the effects of each Glamour is indicated in the book/cards.
After this is done its then on to the game itself which is laid out in The Turn section of the book.
Before the player starts their turn you need to find out how many action tokens each player will get and put in a bag which are drawn blind.
Each player rolls 2 dice of different colours each these numbers are combined along with a 3rd dice which is roiled that both players use to add to both of their score.
This makes the total of action counters each player places in a bag for the turn.
Each player rolls 2 dice of different colours each these numbers are combined along with a 3rd dice which is roiled that both players use to add to both of their score.
This makes the total of action counters each player places in a bag for the turn.
For example I roll a 4 and 5 which gives me a total of 9 and then the 3rd dice is rolled and is a 3 this then gives me a total of 12 action counters for the turn.
Having this random element really makes you think how are your going to use these action counters each turn as you can have a total of 3 on each Circle and on the Thane, but before you can go and use the same unit again you have to make sure you have used all the units you have so the actions are spread out.
Movement is simply what it says you M is in the stat line and if you want to do a ranged attack you must only move half this value.
The ranged attacks used are not what we are used to in terms of Elfs using bow and arrows across the field instead its more like firing off magic against each other.
These are not as powerful as Glamours which the Thane controls.
These are not as powerful as Glamours which the Thane controls.
The R stat looks like this 1x3 for example this means you can have one ranged attack at the value of 3 You roll a d10 to hit which should be lower or equal to your R stat. if you move and attack you suffer -1 to your R.
To defend you look to you D stat and roll equal or less then this value.
If you fail you suffer a wound. You will need to check the W stat as if the miniature has just 1 its removed from play if not add a wound counter.
Once a wound is inflected weather it be in close combat or ranged attack a courage test is needed to be taken.
If this is failed a penalty token is added to the unit meaning it takes one of the 3 actions slots and miss the chance to be used again. So in another words they miss an action first time round.
In close combat you will need to use you A stat for attacking and D stat for defending.
When charging in you will need to attack the closest model in sight. Like the R stat the A stat will show 3x6 which means 3 hits with a value of 6.
The defender also hits at the same time replicating a close combat duel. The player that charged does get a +2 bonus to their stat.
To work out the attacks the same d10 dice mechanic is used to roll equal or under the target number in this case 6 or under.
Defending again works the same way to roll equal or under the D stat.
If hits get through you allocate wounds and roll for courage adding any penalty counters if needed which can cripple a unit out of actions fast.
Then the unit disengages from combat.
There are 7 Scenarios in the book with the first a introduction to the game with fewer models which builds though different set ups which is great for campaigns and there is even a scenario involving the trolls.
So my thoughts...
This is an interesting skirmish game with lost of potential for tactical game play due to the random element of how many actions points you get per turn.
I like the way the book is laid out which is very clear and the use of D10s and rolling equal or under a specific number which is easy to remember.
The book has some grate background which takes you right into the world but I would have liked to see more of LEP's miniature line featured in the book as well as so more pictures of game play just to get more of a feel of the game on the tabletop.
I like the fact that this game does not require you to work to a points system and you chose your Thane and Circles to your style of play.
Its good to see the rule book contains all the Glamours but I would recommend getting the card deck as this will make it easier to reference each Glamour.
I am interested to see if the game will expand to add more background later on which introduces more scenarios and possibly a bigger campaign system and what new miniatures and units this may bring and how it may change the style of play.
Lucid Eye have made an interesting game and rule set that is easy to understand and follow which is using a different spin on your usual background for fantasy. If you like a narrative style of play this game looks to have lots of narrative and campaign potential.
For more information on The Red Book Of The Elf King or Lucid Eye Publications other products visit
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