Mage Knight Board Game

[Nefaro]

Some of you mentioned that you own the Mage Knight Board Game but have put off playing it after checking out the manuals.  I wanted to post some video playthrough series links that should help get you going and make the rules easier to learn after seeing it played and explained.  This game is pretty popular for solo play because there is so much to it and the card play gives you a lot of card play strategizing, at the heart of the game, mixed with some hex map movement prioritization and character advancement.

I suggest you only read the 'Game Walkthrough' manual's Basic Game directions, and play the Beginner Scenario once or twice to get the game flow down.  You will need to read the short solitaire special rules near the back of the full manual as it tells you how to run your "dummy opponent" who is mainly there for putting variable time limits on each turn and giving you some extra character skills to choose from.  I like how the Intro rulebook gets you started, and has all the pictured examples, but there is also the full rulebook that is organize pretty well, is mostly on rules text, and contains all the extra rules clarifications within their appropriate categories.


TLDR:

Just read the Basic Rules in the Game Walkthrough Manual and play the beginner game.  You'll pick up on it pretty fast once you get going, especially after watching the first of these playthrough video series, which is an introduction to the game:

Intro & Basic Solo Game Series
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB7C824980F797C4A

Solo Full Game Series
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB3C0580915E79F38

Lost Legion Expansion Series
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5UyaJ4tfEqwGayfaIctH6YMb9rf2kCyn

"Ricky Royal" also has many other game playthroughs on YouTube so you should check out his vids & playlists.  I'm still in the process of watching some of his later Mage Knight series, along with War of the Ring (own but haven't played) and Cruel Necessity (recently ordered). 

These types of vids can really help you get a feel for the flow of the game before you've even started.  Good stuff. 

Good luck with learning Mage Knight BG.  I think it's worth the effort - I've not seen any solo game quite like it.  Watch that Intro series! 

[Nefaro]

Finished my first Solo Conquest game (my third, total) and got stomped.  Ran out of time trying to find the second city, after taking some wounds rushing the conquest of the first.  I had gotten bogged down healing myself after a previous nasty battle and ended up having to spend an extra turn taking the first city.  X^X

I obviously need to improve my gameplay all around, but especially map movement.  It is a fun solitaire game, despite the first couple sessions moving slowly.  I can see why it's so high on many people's solitaire gaming lists, there is a lot of decision making going on.  I was moving right along this time, with only references to the location card info and a handful of clarifications.  Went pretty smoothly in that sense.

[ArizonaTank]

I am looking hard at this game, so this is great info.

[DennisS]

Do not hesitate on this one. Look at Ricky Royal's youtube videos, and you, like me, will decide to pull the trigger.

This may well be the finest solitaire fantasy board game currently available. If this sounds like a ringing endorsement, it should.   

[Nefaro]

A new expansion for Mage Knight BG coming out this year:

https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/176130/mage-knight-board-game-shades-tezla-expansion

[PanzersEast]

A new expansion for Mage Knight BG coming out this year:

https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/176130/mage-knight-board-game-shades-tezla-expansion

Yep, on my to buy list..... for sure a must buy 

PE

[Nefaro]

I only had two small complaints about Mage Knight BG. 

One was that it took a bit longer to set up a game, before starting, than the average.  After I put all the tokens end-up in a hobby storage box, it cut that down a good deal.  Now I can just pull that out, open the lid, shuffle the specific token stacks & put them back in, then just draw them straight out of the box.  The rest is cheese.

The other was that the default conquest scenario ended right when I was starting to feel like my customization choices were finally starting to be felt.  In other words, I felt the game end deadline came earlier than I wanted, limiting the use of any spells and purchased cards to a small amount.  Extending the deadline is a simple adjustment, if I wanted an easier game and more use out of my purchased stuff, so no biggie.  I would feel bad because a win wouldn't count, however.  Maybe there are some longer solo scenarios available.


It's a damn fine (and unique) game which must have been designed with multi-layered solitaire strategy as it's primary focus. 

[Nefaro]

The new Mage Knight expansion just came out.  FYI. CYA. FNYA!

https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/176130/mage-knight-board-game-shades-tezla-expansion


Lots of good stuff coming in the next month or two.  The new Eldritch Horror expansion is due in the next week, as one example.

[PanzersEast]

Played the expansion this weekend with the Life and Death solo scenario.... boy, I got my butt kicked.  I will have to reboot, but overall more MK goodness.


PE

[Nefaro]

You did see my post about the upcoming Star Trek starship version of this game in that solitaire thread, right?

[PanzersEast]

You did see my post about the upcoming Star Trek starship version of this game in that solitaire thread, right?

Yes and I am hyped..... Could it be a sure thing?  Mage Knight and Star Trek for the Win!!!!


PE

[Nefaro]

You did see my post about the upcoming Star Trek starship version of this game in that solitaire thread, right?

Yes and I am hyped..... Could it be a sure thing?  Mage Knight and Star Trek for the Win!!!!


PE

I also posted the official link to the (rather early) WizKids website page for it.   So, yeah, looks to definitely be coming.

BGG lists it as 2016 release.

Star Trek: Frontiers


Read something about the theme being that a wormhole is discovered to a distant part of the universe and ships sent to explore the other side. 

Some mention of both Fed and Klingon ships in the base set, with exploration, ship, and crew management themes in the Mage Knight mechanics.  Which is pretty easy to visualize since, I'm guessing, what was normally the troop cards you could purchase will probably now be crew cards, and so on.  Monster tokens = hostile ships.  Etc.

I had picked up Star Treek Fleet Captains for this kind of thing, but it doesn't have it's own solitaire rules and the competitive game will probably take a fair amount of rules tutoring for others.  This should be a great solo alternative.

[jamus34]

Thread ressurectus


So there is an Ultimate Edition coming out in December. I put in a preorder for it.

[Nefaro]

So there is an Ultimate Edition coming out in December. I put in a preorder for it.

I wonder if they got all the game pieces from the expansions to match the ones in the core by now.

[acctingman]

Wanted to jump in here for the good folks like me who do not have the table space and want to avoid the long setup/take down times games like this have.

Tabletop Simulator has Mage Knight (and Gloomhaven) for TTS.

I've owned Gloomhaven and played it a couple times. Lovely game, but a PIA to set up and take down. I'm selling it and playing it on TTS. It's glorious!!