I’m not going to lie, it took me about an hour and a half to read and set up the initial board. In my first round I was nose-deep in the walkthrough booklet more than I was looking at the actual board, but after that, I spent most of my time planning and moving. I was the hero of the realm, slaying roving bands of orcs left and right. I recruited some scouts on round 2 and laid siege to a keep, claiming it as my own.

One of the constant threats all players will need to look out for are wounds. If a player manages to take 5 wounds fairly early in the game they’ll be severely handicapped. Each card takes up a space in a player’s draw hand and can’t be used for anything. It’s hard enough trying to complete actions without a limited selection of cards. Night & Day Another cool part of the game is recruiting mercenaries. In certain locations on the map players will have the option to spend influence points to recruit powerful allies. Each one will grant different bonuses and abilities, and who is available to recruit will change from round to round. Mercenaries are not heroic Mage Knights though, and their bonus abilities can only be used once per round. After that, they’ll need to rest until the beginning of a new round. Mage Knight: Ultimate Edition contains the base game, The Lost Legion, Shades of Tezla, and Krang Character expansions, comprehensive integrated rules text, five new cards, and miniatures with alternate paint jobs. In Mage Knight, players will assume the role of a hero of the Atlantean Empire called a Mage Knight. During the course of the board game, players will reclaim territory, besiege castles, hunt marauding orcs, delve dungeons, loot wizard towers, and tons more.Mage Knight is played in a series of rounds, divided into day and night phases. During each round, players take turns performing actions to explore the board, battle enemies, and achieve objectives. Each player's turn consists of the following steps:

Mage Knight’s rulebooks have all been refined and are much easier to follow. The walkthrough game is taken at an excellent pace and introduces rules as they come up. If you’re like me and like to read rulebooks cover to cover before the game is even out of the box, you’re going to get a headache. Draw cards: Draw up to your hand limit, typically five cards. This forms your hand for the current turn. Next, in the box are the pre-painted miniatures! I really enjoy painting miniatures, but I’m slower than molasses when it comes to painting them. My 40k army is still only half-finished after years. Not only are they pre-painted, but they’re actually painted very well. There are clearly some that look better, but they look excellent. Choose a scenario: The game comes with several scenarios with different objectives, durations, and levels of difficulty. Select one that suits your group's preferences. Years later, the miniature game is basically long gone along with all of the minis that I once owned (lost in one of our many moves). In 2011, Mage Knight emerged from the ashes but is no longer a miniatures game. It was reborn as a traditional tabletop board game and completely blew away the board game world with an immense new world to explore (and an immense rulebook).

That’s not a whole lot of fluff, but you’ll have plenty of time to wander around and get used to the basic mechanics and map tile locations. There is a lot going on in Mage Knight. You’re not going to know everything on your first or even your second playthrough. You will, however, have a ton of fun playing and learning the game. Recruit units: Spend influence to recruit units from the offer, adding them to your play area. Units can provide valuable support during your adventure.

Mage Knight uses a Night and Day mechanic. During the day traveling through forests are relatively easier and traveling through a desert is harder. During the day players can also use the yellow sun mana (if it’s available) to power up their cards. Being a jerk has consequences, but you do get awesome stuff for burning down the monastery… Ending the Game This can be used for any of the generic actions. You don’t want to do this too much because the printed card effects are always going to be better than a +1 bonus, but you may just need an extra boost. In a game this heavy there’s always going to be a lot of questions, and just as I’m not going to be able to cover all of the rules in this article (I went over the bare minimum to give you an idea of what you’re getting into) there’s still a lot of questions. WizKids did put out an FAQ, and as I probably mentioned a thousand times now, the Ultimate Edition rulebooks are very well-written.Follow the walkthrough booklets and you’ll be fine. It’s a complex game, but the walkthrough makes it far less intimidating. The Pros and Cons of Mage Knight Pros: Most cards in the game will use this mechanic. Match up the colors with mana and you’ll get a better ability. You won’t always have access to the right colors of mana and it can shift rapidly throughout the round. Wound Cards Disclaimer: The above "How to Play" guide is intended to provide a general overview of the game Mage Knight: Ultimate Edition. While we strive to ensure accuracy, some details may not be entirely accurate or may not cover all aspects of the game. We recommend referring to the official rulebook for complete and accurate information on how to play. For example, if you have the Blue Card Stamina in your hand you could simply play it and gain 2 movements for that turn. If you happened to have a blue crystal or access to blue mana you could spend it and instead use the enhanced ability of 4 movement.

Hurting slightly, I pressed on and came across a dungeon. My scouts wouldn’t be able to help me even if they weren’t wounded and I was relatively fresh. Onward. The dungeon run didn’t end well. Again, I was forced to retreat and this time there were no meat shields in sight. Mage Knight is one of the definitive action/adventure fantasy board games on the market today. The decision to switch gears and convert a collectible miniatures game into a single box board game is a bold move but it’s worked well for Wiz Kids. Speaking of the cards you may notice a lot of colors and 2 separate card effects. Each card will have a mana affinity (color) and 2 separate abilities. The ability on top is the generic ability. You will always be able to use this ability. The lower ability can be used only if you spend mana to enhance the card. Throughout the game you’ll have access to mana or magic crystals, and if you spend one that matches the color of the card you can use the enhanced (lower) ability on the card. I’m only going to go over some basics to help you get started. To try and get every rule down would be a novel in itself. Activate special abilities: Utilize your Mage Knight's unique abilities, as described on their Hero card.For the first game, the objectives are simple to help you learn. The Mage Knights are on a recon mission to the city. The overall game objective is to explore the map tile that has a city on it. Assemble the game board: Place the starting tile in the center, then shuffle and arrange the remaining map tiles in the specified configuration based on the chosen scenario. Players progress through the game by achieving objectives, gaining Fame, and increasing their Reputation. The game's victory conditions are determined by the chosen scenario. For example, players might need to conquer cities or defeat a certain number of enemies. Once the victory conditions are met, the game ends, and the player with the highest Fame is declared the winner.