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Rise of the Necromancers: Dawn & Demons

[Title]

Author:
Thorbjørn Christensen
Christoffer Kyst

Publisher:
Sore Loser Games
2021

No. of Players:
1-5

EVALUATION

[Complexity]
[Design]
[Interaction]
[Strategy]
[Evaluation]


G@mebox author Lutz Wildt writes about the game:

The Necromancers received reinforcements! After their vicious rise and some fierce battles for supremacy in the undead realm, the Necromancers have found a way to summon even more powerful allies: Demons! Eerily fearsome beings who unconditionally support their masters of the battle on the board. However, in order to maintain the balance in the underworld, the Forces of Light have also entered the scene at the same time, wanting to displace the darkness and defeat the villains. It would probably have been far too dangerous to unleash only the demons on the board game world. I think you all got it right. I am talking here about an expansion to the ultimate evil board game Rise of the Necromancers by Thorbjorn Christensen and Christoffer Kyst, published by SORE LOSER GAMES. You can read my detailed review of this game here.

[Rise of the Necromeancers: Dawn & Demons]

Click on image to enlarge!

The Dawn & Demons expansion introduces an associated demon with special abilities for each of the four academies (Bone, Decay, Mist and Blood). Each of these demons is symbolised by a splendid-looking miniature, which further enhances the tabletop presence of the game. There are several game modes introduced with the expansion. In the Demons game mode, the demons, along with their associated Demonology cards, are added to the base game. This includes new necromancers, apprentices, items, spells and dungeon cards. This will introduce the Academy of Demonology as a fifth academy.

As with the already known academies, a player can become the Headmaster of Demonology, increase his power and gain important Dominion counters, of which 13 are needed to win the game. In this variant, everyone plays against everyone else, with the vicious option that the Necromancers can attack each other. The demons can be summoned like Minions in the base game by having the required number of Demonology cards face up and paying the necessary cost in ichor, scrolls, lesser or greater corpses. A Necromancer can only summon one Demon of the same aspect. The latter accompanies him on his journey through the land and can contribute his abilities to the Necromancer's force. On the other hand, the demon can also be unleashed and attack and conquer cities and attack other Necromancers and Minions. While the unleashed demon cannot perform all the actions that its Necromancer can (such as rummaging through the Library or going into a dungeon), it can still significantly increase the Necromancer's sneaky penetrating power.

[Rise of the Necromancers: Dawn & Demons]

Click on image to enlarge!

Another new game variant is Dawn and Demons. In this variant, the counterweight of the demons is also used. With the Forces of Light, it is now possible to play the game cooperatively or in solo mode. The Necromancers play together (or one Necromancer alone) against a deck of cards that symbolises the Forces of Light. The new Archbishop miniature is placed on a Bishop/Demon token, with tokens in front of it that have a Dawn and a Demon side. The Demon side is visible on all tokens at the beginning. Each new turn a token is flipped, once the Bishop token is flipped the top card of the Forces of Light deck is revealed and the appropriate action is taken. Of course, for the evil Necromancers, Forces of Light is not particularly beneficial.

Accordingly, soldiers or Gryffon Knights are played and activated to protect the cities, libraries and dungeons. So it gets difficult to implement the Dominion Counters, which also lead to victory in this game. Fortunately, the demons are again a help in this variation. Summoning demons not only brings more dark power onto the playing field. In addition, it can delay the time until the archbishop appears who represents a more powerful opponent for the necromancers than the soldiers and knights already on the table. Whereas collecting enough Dominion Counters is needed to win without this new enemy, it's now necessary to kill the Archbishop within the next 5 turns. If this does not succeed, the game is lost for the Necromancers. I must say that even in solo play, the battle is quite intense and demanding.

In the last new game variant Dawn and Demons - No Friends, the two previous vicious variants are combined. A real slaughter, as the player who collects 13 Dominion counters or kills the Archbishop first wins again!

[Rise of the Necromancers: Dawn & Demons]

Click on image to enlarge!

Long-time readers will know that I liked Rise of the Necromancers so much that it received a G@meboxStar from me. I have to say that Dawn&Demons perfectly extends the possibilities of the core game. The demons look extremely demonic on the board and give the gameplay new evil abilities. The new options significantly increase the replayability of the game. I also like the addition of the cooperative and the solo mode very much, as it allows you to train new Necromancer players and to play a brisk solo round right away. Of course, the slaughter mode is just the thing for connoisseurs of malicious analogue evening entertainment! If you are interested in the world of necromancers and demons, you should have a look at the current campaign of SORE LOSER GAMES in cooperation with MYTHIC GAMES on Gamefound. I will definitely do that too! In addition to the base game and the Dawn&Demons expansion, a second expansion called Undead Sea will also be funded there. Anyway, I'm pretty curious!


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