Runewars

by Fantasy Flight Games

Product Features

• Nearly 200 highly detailed plastic miniatures and 3D mountain terrain
• Strategic empire building in the fantasy world of Terrinoth
• Age: 13+
• Number of Players: 2 - 4
• Playing Time: 3 - 4 hrs

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 23.2 x 11.8 inches ; 6.7 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: 1589947177
• Item model number: RW01
• Manufacturer recommended age: 13 years and up
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,243 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Runewars is an epic board game of conquest, adventure, and fantasy empires for two to four players. Designed by Corey Konieczka, Runewars pits players against each other in a strategic game of battles and area control, where they must gather resources, raise armies, and lay siege to heavily fortified cities.Runewars takes place in the same popular fantasy universe as the best-selling board games Runebound and Descent: Journeys in the Dark, and dozens of fan-favorite heroes and monsters play their part. The wars for the dragon runes are beginning, and only one faction will emerge victorious. What would you do to claim the ultimate power?Runewars includes:•A thorough 40-page instruction guide•Nearly two hundred highly-detailed plastic miniatures•Over two hundred tokens•Over two hundred cards, both small and standard sized•13 map tiles, each composed of multiple hexes and including stunning three-dimensional mountain terrain!

Product Description

Runewars is an epic board game of conquest adventure and fantasy empires for two to four players. Designed by Corey Konieczka Runewars pits players against each other in a strategic game of battles and area control where they must gather resources raise armies and lay siege to heavily fortified cities.Runewars takes place in the same popular fantasy universe as the best-selling board games Runebound and Descent Journeys in the Dark and dozens of fan-favorite heroes and monsters play their part. The wars for the dragon runes are beginning and only one faction will emerge victorious. What would you do to claim the ultimate power?Runewars is for 2-4 people ages 13 and takes 3-4 hours to play. Runewars includes A thorough 40-page instruction guide Nearly two hundred highly-detailed plastic miniatures Over two hundred tokens Over two hundred cards both small and standard sized 13 map tiles each composed of multiple hexes and including stunning three-dimensional mountain terrain and rules.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving on to the heavier games., February 9, 2010

By 

Mark Lyman "Dark Anders" (SLC UT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

Ive been playing all the "mechanics" games for years now. Games like Carcassone, Settler of Catan, Tikal, Agricola, Balloon Cup, Incan Gold, Ticket to Ride - and although those games have provided me & my friends with endless hours of fun, I always felt like they were lacking in theme and depth, and they were more about new and innovative mechanics. But I wanted something heavier, something that took more time and had more depth and theme to it than just 1-2 hours of mechanics.

I spent a few hours poking around, trying to find one that would fit the bill, and I found Twilight Imperium and Runewars. For me, although both games look and feel epic in nature, Runewars had the advantage of being playable with 2 players, and my wife is all about the fantasy setting and not so into Sci-Fi, so Runewars won out (although I will be buying Twilight Imperium at some point anyway).

I brought it home, and it looked amazing. Nice big box, 192 miniatures, 4 races, big heavy map hexes, it was gorgeous. We immediately punched everything out and I spent the next hour reading through the rulebook.

In this game there are 4 different races, all with their own personality and skillset. This makes for a very intense game. It takes a few games, but you soon begin to realize that each race has their own strategies for winning the game. Its not neccesarily about brute force and simply overrunning the map with your army. In fact, doing so will most likely cost you the game. There is a level of depth to this game that I have not yet seen. There is questing, and conquest, and tactics, and politics - all happening at the same time, and all viable ways to win the game. The polotical side of the game causes all sorts of bluffing and deceiving between players. Because of this, I have seen players pull the win right out from others many times, and its always the most amazing feeling. The depth of strategy to this game is simply amazing, and pulling off the win against all odds is REALLY why this game is so enjoyable. No one is overpowered, and no one can safely say "they have the cat in the bag".

I highly recommend this game, even at the outrageous price. I will get more playtime from this game than all my others.

I also want to stress, this isnt some light game. This is your gateway game to the heavier war games. Plan on 3-5 hours per game (although they can be played in 2 if everyone is familiar with all the rules). The first game will be slow, but every player is basically engaged the entire game, there is very little downtime.

Writing this review just makes me excited to play again.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Deceptively simple board game, and it's big and long, May 6, 2010

By 

Kyle Jennings - See all my reviews

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

Just when you've gone through the rules and a couple rounds of play and you think you're getting the hang of it, a curveball is thrown at you and other players, and you're forced to rethink conventional strategy.

Playing safe in this game is not necessarily a prudent option, as you will often find yourself somewhere in the middle of the pack while an opposing player has been making what seemed like reckless strides forward in their conquest and is now about to claim victory. In short, be aggressive and plan at least a couple turns ahead with contingencies.

Also be aware that this game has the potential to use almost every figure and tile piece, especially in a 4 player game, so be mindful of your surroundings. Also be prepared to spend at least 2 hours per game, even with only 2 players, and as long as 3 to 4 hours if it's going slow.

Is it worth $80 on Amazon? Well my friends and I split it, so that is a definite yes. There are also optional rules/map markers that supposedly drastically change gameplay but I have not used them yet. This alone almost makes for a second similar but separate game, which is very good. But unless you are willing to put in the time to learn the base game's varied subtleties, you may want to save your money for something else.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Packaging aside, an outstanding game, March 25, 2010

By 

Hotrodimus "Hotrod" (Chicago, IL, USA) - See all my reviews

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:2.0 out of 5 stars 

The other customer review covered most that needs to be said about the game - it's incredibly fun and engrossing, and in spite of being an epic 3+ hour affair, the time just flies by; there's not a lot of downtime even with four players. It's ridiculously overproduced in the best way - 192 miniatures, dials, a ton of cards, a million chits. This is one of those games that's large and in charge, like spreading out an entire fantasy world before you.

The one negative that I wanted to mention is the game's packaging - while it's clearly intended to be presented as an enormous, epic box of insanity, the entire game could easily be packaged (even before being punched out and assembled) in a box about half the size of the one that it comes in. For gamers that already have a closet (or spare bedroom) full of games, it's tough to make room for such a big package that's just plain unnecessary. It is covered with beautiful art, so that's one thing it has going for it, but the entire game can easily be boxed up in something significantly smaller for transport. The other thing is that after punching out all of the chits and pieces, there's about as much laminated cardboard left over as has been punched out in the first place; I don't even recycle, but even I felt environmental guilt at how much excess was left over to be tossed (to be fair, they did include recycle symbols on all of the extraneous pieces).

Outstanding war game that only gets better on subsequent plays.