Dignan
BBQ-er of Beer Bathed Brats
Maps currently being reviewed:
Black Gold by Panopticon
Black Gold is one of the more visually striking maps on the site. The combination of shadow tiles, sand, and dungeon tiles is great. It's a very unique looking map and shows a ton of polish in its appearance.
The map is defined by ridges running down the length of the map. These effectively form three lanes to approach the enemy. On the outer lanes set power glyphs entice players, while the center path features plenty of shadow and jungle coverage with two treasure glyphs.
The map also features slightly split start zones. Two hexes forward from the main deployment zone are part of each player's starting zone. I can't say that this adds a great deal to the map, but it does create a few interesting choices depending on your army.
In my games on this map, the gameplay tended to focus on the main ridge by the wound glyph. My play group tends to value the wound glyph more than the initiative glyph and it therefore received a greater amount of attention. Battles focused on that side and the control of the hill directly overlooking it.
This hill ended up being the dominant feature in our games. It overlooked the more powerful glyph and the center of the map. Additionally, the three hex rock formation blocked it effectively from the opponent's neighboring high ground. This resulted in players dropping down to low ground and assaulting a stationary opponent. A large cluster typically formed in this area and maneuverability was greatly impaired.
The topography of the map is also an inhibitor to movement. The three lanes formed by the two ridges make lateral movement very time consuming. While range units could usually hop up on height for a shot across a lane, melee had a long march to engage figures on different lanes. This resulted in much less exciting and more predicable moves.
Black Gold is an outstanding map to set out on your table. It's fantastically unique and fun to play. However, the gameplay suffers a bit and isn't quite up to BoV standards. NO to induct.
Black Gold by Panopticon
Black Gold is one of the more visually striking maps on the site. The combination of shadow tiles, sand, and dungeon tiles is great. It's a very unique looking map and shows a ton of polish in its appearance.
The map is defined by ridges running down the length of the map. These effectively form three lanes to approach the enemy. On the outer lanes set power glyphs entice players, while the center path features plenty of shadow and jungle coverage with two treasure glyphs.
The map also features slightly split start zones. Two hexes forward from the main deployment zone are part of each player's starting zone. I can't say that this adds a great deal to the map, but it does create a few interesting choices depending on your army.
In my games on this map, the gameplay tended to focus on the main ridge by the wound glyph. My play group tends to value the wound glyph more than the initiative glyph and it therefore received a greater amount of attention. Battles focused on that side and the control of the hill directly overlooking it.
This hill ended up being the dominant feature in our games. It overlooked the more powerful glyph and the center of the map. Additionally, the three hex rock formation blocked it effectively from the opponent's neighboring high ground. This resulted in players dropping down to low ground and assaulting a stationary opponent. A large cluster typically formed in this area and maneuverability was greatly impaired.
The topography of the map is also an inhibitor to movement. The three lanes formed by the two ridges make lateral movement very time consuming. While range units could usually hop up on height for a shot across a lane, melee had a long march to engage figures on different lanes. This resulted in much less exciting and more predicable moves.
Black Gold is an outstanding map to set out on your table. It's fantastically unique and fun to play. However, the gameplay suffers a bit and isn't quite up to BoV standards. NO to induct.
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