Ex-Illis. High Hopes. Lots of Woes.

Game:  Miniature/ Wargaming

So what shall we talk about today?  I figure it's about time I start reviewing games to help you decide whether they are cool enough to play.  So first up I was thinking maybe we could discuss a game that used to be dear to my heart.....Ex-illis.  It was an exciting  miniature game.  But lets rate it's features to see how it stacks up.

Cost:
The game isn't very cheap.  A starter set (regular version) will run you about 80 bucks.  The deluxe is even more but you get a really nice board to play on.  One nice advantage is in the game, you buy army packs for what you need so there is no random booster crap.  You get what you pay for.  The miniatures aren't painted, or even glued together though.  So that's your job.  It's not my thing, that's for sure.  But if you aren't an avid mini collector then it does create a lot of start up cost.  You will need glue, paints, tweezers, etc.  Still it is cheaper than games like Warhammer.

Rules:
The rules actually make the game unique.  The fine folks at Ex-illis were trying to take miniature war games to the next level.  Remember Warhammer?  If you play it, you love it.  And if you don't play it, why is that?  It's all the  rules isn't it?!?  A game with 17 big books and a tape measure sounds slow and time consuming.  So what have the Ex-illis creators done?  They have created a game where you log in online to play.  So it keeps track of all the rules for you!  And also records wins and losses. Pretty nice huh?  Except till the servers go down.  Then you just got a bunch of crappy plastic minis.

Theme:
The theme is great.  The setting is medieval Europe and a group of heretics has raised a fog which killed a vast amount of people.  Also evil demons and creatures of darkness have poured into the world.  Now the world has been thrown into chaos.  It's a violent time for the world, and only the strong will survive.  It's super easy to get into the right mindset while playing this game.
To take it to the maximum level of geekiness, at the hobby store I used to play at we even had a map of countries that we will fight over trying to gain control of the whole world.

Overall:
I had such high hopes for this game.  But unfortunately it misses more than it hits.  Now the game is pretty much dead.  And I spent a bunch on minis.  My adivice is to avoid this one!

A Sobering Examination of WWI For Younger Readers

Book:  The War to End All Wars
Author:  Russell Freedman
Rating: 4.8 of 5.0

Russell Freedman has created in this book a chilling and straightforward pictorial on WWI. The book is aimed at 12 years old and up, but that doesn't mean that everyone won't appreciate the book. There is much to be intrigued by. The photos are especially haunting. None of them are gory or too shocking for a younger reader, but they still get their point across very well. Pictures of the trenches, early tanks, ships sinking, and a picture of the village of Wytschaete near Ypres all bring home the horrors of war.

Also to be appreciated about the book would be how the author keeps the synopsis of the war to such a straightforward narrative. So much happened in the 1914-1918 period politically and on the battlefront. But Mr. Freedman does an excellent job of getting the point across without bogging down in the plethora of facts.


A good book for anyone just starting to learn about WWI whether young or old. Worth picking up. Thumbs up.