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Freddy's 2(5) cents on AoS: GORECHOSEN!

Discussion in 'General Hobby/Tabletop Chat' started by Freddy25, Jul 30, 2017.

  1. Freddy25
    Kroxigor

    Freddy25 Well-Known Member

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    So, I've finally got the time (and the money, lol) to order, receive and play Gorechosen!
    And as said with @Jorgik (and @pendrake if I'm not wrong), I'll use this space to describe a bit the game and then leave my personal opinion on it: please let me know if you have any question related to this game and if you played this game before feel free to add a comment!

    I'll structure this post in many "chapters" put under Spoilers, so you can skip the parts you are not interested in (or you don't want me to, in effect, spoil).
    I'll warn you, this could be a long read. :)

    It's a board game released a good amount of months ago by Games Workshop, set in a small, cruel, dangerous arena used by Khorne's cultists/warriors to battle and kill anything and anybody, just to satisfy their god's obsession for violence, blood and massacre.
    2 to 4 players can play together impersonating one "hero" devouted to Khorne whose only aim is to kill all of his opponents, or at least survive all the others, and demonstrate this way to be worthy of his god favour.
    Here's the link to the official page on GW's site
    https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Gorechosen-ENG
    As you can see in every box there are:
    - 1 double-sided board in rigid paper;
    - 4 miniatures (Exalted Deathbringer, Skullgrinder, Slaughterpriest and Aspiring Deathbringer);
    - instructions on how to build the different miniatures;
    - 4 reference cards which explain how each of the four warriors behave;
    - 52 cards, which will form the 3 decks you will need to play the game;
    - 16 page rulebook (which is not 16 pages of rules, as there is also a part of fluff, and other juicy things);
    - tokens, 6 dice, and that's it, I guess

    - - - Just a couple of personal considerations!
    Everything is BEAUTIFUL, perfectly themed, and well organised.
    Anything has its proper place in the box and comes sealed in transparent plastic, and there's enough room to store the 4 miniatures (once built) without having to worry about them being in danger.
    I also like the quality materials and the robustness of the box.
    Here's an amazing, short video which will describe you all the main features of Gorechosen: take a look at it, cause it explains almost everything... a lot better than I could ever do!


    Therefore, in summary:
    - 1 "Initiative card" is revealed, indicating which warrior can make an action
    - the player controlling that character discards a card from his hand and resolves just 1 of the 3 actions listed on that card (top = Move, centre = Attack, bottom = special)
    - the player may instead choose to discard 2 cards to use his character's Unique Ability
    - if a player makes an Attack action, the attacked one can discard a Block/Parry/Dodge (special) Action to try avoiding any damage
    - once done, another Initiative card is revealed and the process starts anew.


    There are a couple of things not shown in this video which make the game even more engaging and interesting, I'll briefly introduce them in the next chapter.

    - - - Personal considerations!
    The turns progression is AMAZINGLY CLEVER as even if it is super simple to remember and fast (so not boring at all) it grants a lot of tactical dept and decision making, since you have to take into account many possibilities.

    Examples.
    - On every card there are 3 possible actions listed, but when you make an action you have to discard its card. This means you must decide carefully which action to use and when, 'cause when you make one, the other 2 listed on that card are irreversibly lost!
    - There are cards, abilities and other situations which force you to discard one or more card. So you never know for sure if you will be able to use that action that seems so useful...
    - Pay attention to how the characters activate: this is decided by a random Initiative card revealed after the active player has played an action. Being this card part of a covered deck, it may happen a player has the possibility to activate 2 or more times before the others! This can let him make a devastating series of attacks for example, but maybe also leave him vulnerable to the remaining actions of the other player(s)!
    3 Things has not been described properly in the brief video you can see in chapter 3: Wrath, Critical injury and Pushing Enemies.
    Wrath: every player starts with the same amount of Wrath tokens.
    The number of Wrath tokens a character has on its marker dictates how many Initiative cards relative to that character will be present in the deck is used to activate the different warriors.
    In other words: if I have 2 Wrath tokens and you have 4, you will be able to activate your character 2 times more than I can do.
    The thing is: Wrath goes up and down in relation to what happens to your warrior.
    Lots of powerful Attack actions make your character's Wrath decrease, while suffering damage often increases it (everything is described on the action cards).
    This is a nice form of balancing, because a warrior heavily wounded this turn can use his Wrath in the following turn to perform more actions (i.e. moves, attacks, etc.)
    Critical Injury: when a character get a certain number of wounds (or is the victim of some nasty attacks) it may be forced to suffer a Critical Injury, who can cause unpredictable reactions. When someone suffers one of these wounds, the relative player reveals a card from a specific deck and reads what has happened: maybe your warrior has been stunned, maybe it simply gets mad, or maybe... :rolleyes:
    Pushing Enemies: in some cases it will be possible to push the opponents towards a wall, an obstacle or another warrior. This is a great tactical chance to move your enemy where you want and inflict some damage in the process. There is also the possibility to push him into a pit! Depending on the situation, it may even cause an insta-death!!!
    I have good news: the game doesn't simply "stops" for those poor warriors gruesomely killed in the name of Khorne!
    When your character dies, of course you won't be able anymore to win this brutal combat... but you can still interfere and try to penalize the other warriors!
    I won't tell you how, guys, I'm sorry, this is too much fun and I dont' want to ruin the surprise!
    [​IMG]
    Equipped with a hammer and an axe, he is lethal at short range and get bonuses if he attacks enemies directly in front of him.
    Perfect choice if you play 1vs1 or want a character good in every situation.
    I won my first match using him!
    [​IMG]
    Nasty guy: his giant axe makes him hit fewer times than Vexnar, for example... but every scored hit means lot of pain! He has a particular feature which lets him counter-attack an enemy as soon as he receives damage, and his Unique Ability gives the possibility to make a bull charge and push an enemy!
    [​IMG]
    Beeing a sort of "mage", he is the only character able to cast a spell to boil the enemy blood! This means he can deal ranged damage, but his axe is difficult to be used properly... (of course, if you can, you dish amazing amount of pain and critical Injuries like crazy)
    [​IMG]
    My personal favourite: it is too absurd not to love him. His flaming anvil is quite powerful, but you have to position really well because it's more efficient at medium range.
    He is an amazing choice when there is a good number of opponents in the arena (he can hit more than one opponent at a time) but when you are face to face with just another warrior he is a bit in disadvantage
    If you get this game, all I am about to say is written in the rules, but some of you may be happy to know that there are 4... I mean, 6 addictional warriors you can play in Gorechosen!
    - Bloodsecrator
    - Bloodstoker
    - Exalted Deathbringer with Impaling Spear
    - Slaughterpriest with Hackblade and Wrath-hammer
    - Valkia the Bloody
    - Skarr Bloodwrath
    The final 4 pages of Gorechosen rulebook describe the abilities and playstyle of the first 4 miniatures I've listed, while Walkia and Skarr can be played using the rules shown in the White Dwarf magazine of September 2016.

    Another interesting thing is that there are 3 other ways to play Gorechosen apart from the standard way (the following are not the correct names, of course):
    - 1 vs 1 (add a simple rule to make the game more interesting if there are only 2 people playing it)
    - 2 vs 2 (turns the game into a team death match. Haven't tried it, but it should be LOTS of fun!)
    - King of the Hill (one character is the "champion", and the others have to kill him. Valkia and Skarr, being a little more powerful than the others, fit perfectly in the role of the "boss").
    Guys, I've never been a huge fan of board games. Nor a lover of Khorne miniatures and fluff...

    ...but MY GOD, go immediatly get Gorechosen!!!
    This game is frigging amazing, and is a shiii___load of fun!
    Everything, from the ruleset to the very confection, screams "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD" and it's all so exaggerated, so gore, so metal that anyone with at least a microscopic bit of sense of humor will fall in love with it.

    Let's be clear: this is not that kind of "too stupid and idiotic" fun.
    This game is the real essence of fun:
    you don't need overcomplicated rules to reach realism and balance, it can be achieved with some cards and 6 dice at maximum.
    You don't need hours and hours of study and setup to enjoy your game, 30-40 minutes are enough to rock and roll and fulfill your thirst of midless violence!
    Under a clunky, grotesque and dumb atmosphere, intentionally exaggerated, there is a game so elegant I have nothing to complain about.

    Really: I simply can't find a flaw.
    Are the miniatures any good? Yeah, of course, they are wonderful.
    Is there any sort of replace value? Yes. 4 different characters, 6 potential others.
    And if you like to experiment a little in game design, nothing stops you from trying to fit in the game another character (I'll probably try in the future to create a Saurus Oldblood and a Sunblood to be used in Gorechosen).
    Is it expensive? No. Not at all. The entire game (miniatures, board, cards, tokens, dice, etc.) costs LESS than simply a Slaughterpriest and a Deathbringer bought individually... Nonsense. And you can also find it online if you really want to take it on a discount.

    I don't know how can I say it...
    This game is a 10 out of 10.
     
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2017
    Wolfwerty33, Jorgik, n810 and 5 others like this.
  2. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    Very nice description.

    I bet a terrain-model of a gladiator pit would look really good to augment this game. Kinda like something made for epic blood bowl stadiums.
     
  3. Freddy25
    Kroxigor

    Freddy25 Well-Known Member

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    Thank you!
    Yes, as you said, I see there are some interesting possibilities to augment the game by simply adding a couple of arenas: they are also quite small, so I believe it would be really simple for anyone knowing a little of Photoshop to
    - download a squared pic from the web
    - add an hexagonal grid on it
    - put some obstacles/pit here and there...
    - ... and voilà! You now have another board!
     
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  4. Jorgik
    Carnasaur

    Jorgik Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for the review! it sounds like great fun, I was considering to get it but never did due to the huge amount of models I have yet to be painted. It´s sad that it´s no longer available. It seems this week there were many boxsets that went "no longer available"
    I don´t understand why would a 1 year old game go no longer available. It makes no sense. (Was released in September last year, with the first number of the new format of white dwarf and a free Khorne slaughterpriest)
     
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  5. Freddy25
    Kroxigor

    Freddy25 Well-Known Member

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    You're welcome.
    Yeah, it was and is really lots of fun!

    I feel you regarding the topic of having hundreds of models still to be painted... But after all, it's the same if you've got hundreds of them or hundreds and 4! :joyful:

    But you're right: weird how it has become no longer available (for English people and, for example, Italian ones)... but I see Gorechosen available for USA :confused:

    I underline again my appreciation for the game, so well, if you can, you can always try to find it on the secondary market or somewhere online!
     
    Jorgik likes this.
  6. Wolfwerty33
    Cold One

    Wolfwerty33 Active Member

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    Thanks for the review! I've just got two more things to point out:
    1. There is yet another game mode: A King of the Hill variant, explictly for Valkia and Skarr in the role of "king", whereby non-King players can get another fighter if their one dies, but the King gets double the normal amount of action cards. Available in the White Dwarf where you get the rules for Skarr and Valkia.
    2. I literally had a nosebleed over this game. It was the best nosebleed I'd ever had.
     
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