Okay, so here is a partial summary of the first playtest of my variant.
I set up the game as usual, then started.
Karkoth. I moved the armies, then resolved a few battles in the basic CoN way, due to either the presence of a dragon, a siege engine or a warship (which means, according to my rules, that a Dungeon Command battle is ruled out).
Then, a DC battle, which I saved for last: Karkoth bringing a Footsoldier and a Monster against a sole Vailin Footsoldier. Translated to DC, this became a Demonweb Spider [Karkoth Footsoldier] and a Giant Spider [Karkoth Monster] against an Elf Archer [Vailin Footsoldier]. I set up the DC play area next to the CoN map, choosing tiles for both sides, then putting all three figures in their respective start area.
![]()
Here, in the lower left side of the board, we see the ongoing Conquest of Nerath battle (Karkoth's Monster and Footsoldier against Vailin's Footsoldier). In the background, we can see the Dungeon Command board which has been set up.
![]()
Here, we see the ongoing Dungeon Command battle (Karkoth's Giant Spider and Demonweb Spider against Vailin's Elf Archer).
The Archer managed to kill off the Demonweb Spider...
![]()
The Elf Archer on the Dungeon Command board, with the Conquest of Nerath board in the background.
... but then got killed by the Giant Spider. This meant that Karkoth had won the battle, both Footsoldiers were taken off the CoN map, with the remaining Monster having conquered the Vailin territory. Karkoth also managed to collect some treasure (5) during the battle, which were then added to its treasury (a nice boost for the the reinforcement step).
Vailin. Again, a few normal battles then one which I revolved in DC mode. The units: 1) a Vailin Footsoldier, 2) a Vailin Monster and 3) a Vailin Fighter against an Iron Circle Monster. This became: 1) an Elf Archer, 2) a Half-Orc Thug and 3) a Water Elemental (thanks, chromaticdragon!) against a Giant Spider. The Giant Spider killed the Thug, but then got taken down when the Archer drew a couple of Quick Shot cards. At the conclusion of the battle, the Vailin victors then added one treasure to their treasury.
Iron Circle. A couple of normal battles, then one which could have been done in DC mode but which I resolved normally, since the lack of faction-appropriate level 3 Monsters meant that it would have been a giant spider again... I just didn't feel like it.
Nerath. I started with a Dungeon exploration. A Wizard and a Fighter headed for the Trollhaunt Warrens. I then switched to Adventure System mode (setting up my home-made scenario (see http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/764892/two-custom-scenar...). The two adventurers explored a bit, faced Legion Devils and Gibbering Mouthers, which threatened to overcome them. Running away, they found the Troll General but in the end succumbed. Which means that on the CoN map both the Fighter and the Wizard died and were taken off the board.
Nerath then went on with a few more normal battles (one which I might have done in DC mode but chose to do normally as it was just a Monster against a Footsoldier).
This was the end of round 1.
Since then, I've thought of this some more, and I've reached the conclusion that to make the DC battles a little more exciting, there needs to be more creatures involved. Thus, I'm thinking of doubling the amount of units involved. I'm not exactly sure how this will be accomplished, but at the moment I'm leaning towards doubling the amount of CoN gold each army starts with. I will probably try this out next time I play (tonight, in all probability, after having opened my newly received set of Curse of Undeath which I'm expecting today!).
[Thanks to my wife for her photography skills.]
I set up the game as usual, then started.
Karkoth. I moved the armies, then resolved a few battles in the basic CoN way, due to either the presence of a dragon, a siege engine or a warship (which means, according to my rules, that a Dungeon Command battle is ruled out).
Then, a DC battle, which I saved for last: Karkoth bringing a Footsoldier and a Monster against a sole Vailin Footsoldier. Translated to DC, this became a Demonweb Spider [Karkoth Footsoldier] and a Giant Spider [Karkoth Monster] against an Elf Archer [Vailin Footsoldier]. I set up the DC play area next to the CoN map, choosing tiles for both sides, then putting all three figures in their respective start area.
The Archer managed to kill off the Demonweb Spider...
... but then got killed by the Giant Spider. This meant that Karkoth had won the battle, both Footsoldiers were taken off the CoN map, with the remaining Monster having conquered the Vailin territory. Karkoth also managed to collect some treasure (5) during the battle, which were then added to its treasury (a nice boost for the the reinforcement step).
Vailin. Again, a few normal battles then one which I revolved in DC mode. The units: 1) a Vailin Footsoldier, 2) a Vailin Monster and 3) a Vailin Fighter against an Iron Circle Monster. This became: 1) an Elf Archer, 2) a Half-Orc Thug and 3) a Water Elemental (thanks, chromaticdragon!) against a Giant Spider. The Giant Spider killed the Thug, but then got taken down when the Archer drew a couple of Quick Shot cards. At the conclusion of the battle, the Vailin victors then added one treasure to their treasury.
Iron Circle. A couple of normal battles, then one which could have been done in DC mode but which I resolved normally, since the lack of faction-appropriate level 3 Monsters meant that it would have been a giant spider again... I just didn't feel like it.
Nerath. I started with a Dungeon exploration. A Wizard and a Fighter headed for the Trollhaunt Warrens. I then switched to Adventure System mode (setting up my home-made scenario (see http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/764892/two-custom-scenar...). The two adventurers explored a bit, faced Legion Devils and Gibbering Mouthers, which threatened to overcome them. Running away, they found the Troll General but in the end succumbed. Which means that on the CoN map both the Fighter and the Wizard died and were taken off the board.
Nerath then went on with a few more normal battles (one which I might have done in DC mode but chose to do normally as it was just a Monster against a Footsoldier).
This was the end of round 1.
Since then, I've thought of this some more, and I've reached the conclusion that to make the DC battles a little more exciting, there needs to be more creatures involved. Thus, I'm thinking of doubling the amount of units involved. I'm not exactly sure how this will be accomplished, but at the moment I'm leaning towards doubling the amount of CoN gold each army starts with. I will probably try this out next time I play (tonight, in all probability, after having opened my newly received set of Curse of Undeath which I'm expecting today!).
[Thanks to my wife for her photography skills.]