Heroes of Land, Air & Sea is a pretty young game series that keeps developing in an almost insane speed. The original Kickstarter campaign started less than a year ago. A big expansion called “Order & Chaos” was also introduced later on.
A week ago yet another project was launched. This time we’re getting a new expansion and a chance to buy the game cheaper for people who missed last year’s Kickstarter. There seems to be many of these, as the game is sitting on over 400 000 USD after first week only.
A Circle of Destruction and Prosperity
The world of Aughmoore is a peculiar world that feasts on primal energies of war. For years it remained a calm and idyllic place. All races lived in peace and made use of bountiful lands surrounding them. The more lazy and peaceful they’d become, the more energy left the land. Soon the continents became darker and more devoid of life. Hard times began to spark problems and conflicts.
Humans led by a famous paladin decided to leave others and only protect their own. Elves began to hate humans, while the Orcs kept building weapons and arming themselves more and more. As wars and primal energies came back, the land became fertile and bountiful again, but the end of the war is nowhere in sight.
Picking Your Army
Creators of Heroes of Land, Air & Sea wanted to turn typical Real Time Strategy video game into a board game. This is visible in mechanics, winning conditions and even the choice of races. You can enjoy it solo, play in 2-7 player group or in teams. Each of you takes control of a different army.
There are four of them by default – humans, elves, dwarves and orcs. You can expand your selection thanks to the expansions which include birdfolk, merfolk, lionkin, lizardfolk, goblins and the undead.
Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate
During gameplay you start building your army, construct buildings and various vehicles, get the support of heroes, discover and conquer territories. You can also cast all sorts of spells and gain valuable items from trading and collecting resources.
To win in Heroes of Land, Air & Sea players must achieve one of the four available goals, which ends the game and leads to final scoring. The goals include exploring all territories, recruiting all units, building 3 towers or conquering an enemy capital.
Cardboard Goodness
One of the greatest aspects of the game are the physical components you find in the box. Gamelyn Games is slowly making their name as the creators of cool and not super-expensive gadgets that enhance gameplay by miles. Their games have stuff like wooden meeples equipped with plastic weapons and bullet shaped dice.
Apart from figurines, Heroes of Land, Air & Sea comes with beautiful and sleek cardboard ships. Each of them is designed to fit its race. There is even one with octopuses sitting on the sides and another shaped like an alligator. Base game also has some nice cardboard towers and cities. One of the expansions includes a floating continent and another one comes with small siege machines.
Expanding the Game
Backers have lots of choice in how they want to buy and expand their games. First: you can get the basic edition of Heroes of Land, Air & Sea with updated rulesets. Both big expansions are also available: last year’s “Chaos & Order” and fresh “Pestilence”.
You can also make smaller additions to the game with mini expansions that alter the game a bit. “Mercenary Packs” add new recruitable Heroes. “Nomads” expansion adds some special characters that can either be recruited by a player or work as multi purpose NPCs. “Siege Engines” gives you access to ballistae, catapults and siege towers.
Players who don’t feel confident in their miniature painting skills can also get painted minis with some additional money. Creators also offer a free mobile app that teaches newbies how to play, contains the entire lore of Aughmoore and offers some random events that can be used as a part of the gameplay session.
