Elder Scrolls: Call to Arms - Part 1 - The Core Rules Box
Modiphius's new offering Elder Scrolls: Call to Arms, is an adventure wargame game for 1+ players, in this deep dive review series Kris will be taking a look at the game and what is currently on offer.Part 1 focuses on the core rules box.I have been on the lookout for something to scratch my itch for a miniatures wargame that I can play at home, and solo play would be a bonus (The less my wife has to humor me playing a miniatures game the better...) so, the arrival of Elder Scrolls: Call to Arms is well timed.I picked up the launch bundle from Sentry Box and got started with looking at what came in the Core Box
Upon opening the box, you are greeted with three rule books, some punch board, storage bags (much appreciated, I love it when companies include things like that,) and a whole host of cards.As I had a feeling I was going to be writing up a review, I resisted the urge to just open everything and instead went to the "Escape from Helgen" learn to play book.
Reading through the Escape form Helgen, the game feels really clean, and the booklet is really well presented, taking you through all of the proprietary dice, how they function for different types of rolls, how movement and actions work and is a really simple walk through of the game basics.
Going through the character sheets all the info on them is broken down in the learn to play book with space on the hero cards to add any equipment that you may have and all of the skills in the game have short hand symbols to keep the amount of text to a minimum and allow the info to be as clear as possible. Health, Stamina, & Magicka are all resource pools and have punch-out tokens that match to help you keep track. Strength, Agility, Endurance, Intelligence, and Wisdom are your statistics and have associated skills, like the Dragonborn's Strength is tied to its 1 Handed Weapon Skill.One of the key features of the game that I really like is the ability to burn Stamina to buff your actions and get extra bonus dice, or move faster as it is a good reprisentation of the gaming series and helps to introduce more choices and resource management, without it feeling overwhelming with options.
Now that I have consumed the "learn to play" book and feel like I have a grip on the base mechanics of the game I will be pawing over the main rulebook and building some of the models to get the game on the table properly, but my inital impressions are good. So, check back in a few days for a review of the miniatures and hopefully some shots of the game on the table.- Kris
