MY EXPERIENCES – letting you know if you would enjoy things I like:

In the long winter semesters of my youth we needed indoor things to do during lunchtimes of high school. The first two years we amused ourselves with card games; mostly ongoing games of Hearts with winning scores in the thousands. Then one day we had a flash of inspiration and our table curling league was born.

Table Curling was our crokinole-shuffleboard inspired pastime based on the “popular” winter sport wherein we flicked smooth wooden discs down the cafeteria table marked out with concentric rings. We were hooked on this game of ours and played season after season enjoying the heck out of it.

Years later I was reflecting back on those fun times and hankered for something similar. I picked up Pitchcar since I also loved slot racers as kid and the combination looked like great fun. And then I learned about CATACOMBS.

Now, I’ll add here that we also played D&D back in those days (um, and still these days) so when I saw this combination of disc-flicking with a dungeon-crawl theme I was at amazed that I’d never thought about this before and excited to get this game to my table at some time. And lucky me, that’s where it sits right now thanks to a loaner copy (as it’s not yet available to buy).

THE GAME – Components:

The rules are quite succinct and quick to read through; 14 half-sized pages and a summary on the back page. The icons are clear and distinct and the special rules are minimal, easy to execute, and flavourful. The components are good quality and are holding up under much play (this copy has been passed around for reviewing/demoing/playtesting). Most of the discs have stickers on both sides which doesn’t seem to affect the ’slide’ and the images have yet to show abrasions from the sliding. The cards are the size of traditional ones (Magic card-sleeve sized) and could use to be sleeved – no different than any other cards that receive a lot of play. The game boards are very good quality in thickness and colour. I would have liked the boards to be double-thick to better hold in the obstacle discs but I can figure out ways to prevent these discs from popping out of the cutouts that doesn’t drive up production costs. Finally, I really like the art and the ‘old school’ feel that it evokes. Yes, it’s pencil drawing but aside your FFG-level expectations and crack out a 1st Edition D&D Monster Manual – this art is way better while capturing that classical D&D feel.

THE GAME – Play:

The first thing I learned is that I am no longer the ace shot that I was in my youth! In fact, I recommend that the players just flick the various pieces around for 10 minutes to get a good sense of the physics and to develop a comfortable flick style (the basic flick, the side-swipe, the push – hopefully I’ll get pictures up to demonstrate these styles). Otherwise you’ll be wanting to mulligan many times to avoid frustration. It’s better to take this time to practice regardless of how much you may want to dive in to the real action!

Once you’ve figured out the dexterity aspect you’ve covered the majority of the learning curve, but not all. There will be tactical decisions in the initial setup by the Overseer and the use of Hero’s abilities and items. These are not obvious at first as the inclination is to charge in with the Barbarian, advance more cautiously with the Thief, and hang back with the Elf and Wizard. This is usually a fine approach for the earlier rooms but can lead to disaster once monsters with special abilities begin to appear. Experience will expose new options and some combos to leverage for both sides.

THE GAME – Now and Future:

As cool as the idea first sounded to me, I did wonder about its replayability. However, the designers have left in hooks for future enhancements with the foreshadowed ‘room exit’ variant as well as the simple ability to add more (and larger) boards as well as new room, item, spell, and monster cards into the mix. They already have some free content on the website to track ‘achievements’ which is always an appreciated way of providing more (and free) options to fans. And I am already imagining many house rules that could be layered over the base to tweak the experience from straight dexterity to a quasi- miniatures game (none of which are at all necessary, but are fun for me to imagine).

But leaving the farther future for when it comes around, I found that the game is very entertaining right out of the box. Simply replaying it gives you both more physical skill as well as tactical experience to keep it engaging. It plays great with children as well and the theme will likely draw them in more than your average crokinole board. It could also bridge them from a game like Sorry! Sliders into more ‘game-y games’ (particularly useful if you want to prepare your kids to be your very own Descent players one day!). Scaling the game can also be easily accomplished with some simple house rules like removing powerful spells/items, adding rooms, etc.

So all in all the guys at Sands Of Time Games have a great first foray into the published gaming realm. Catacombs is a fast, fun and easy to learn dungeon-themed dexterity game. It has a lot of future potential for enhancements but is complete and offers highly varied play as published. I can’t wait to get my own copy in March (fingers crossed as it crosses the Pacific!)

Note: If you listen to our podcast you’ll recognize Rob from our recordings. He played Grundy the Thief in our Old School D&D game, and is currently playing Jesse the Kid in our Weird West game. He also ran our 4e game nights as well as introducing me to Arkham Horror and Twilight Imperium.

Thanks Rob!

Here are some of the expansions I was able to find, and how they indicate their compatibility with the official Axis & Allies game. It’s interesting to note that most not only say they’re compatible with Axis & Allies, but also include a disclaimer that the use of the trademark is not approved. I wasn’t able to find anything that suggests Milton Bradley or Hasbro tried to block the sale of these products over the years.

If anyone has played any of these expansions, I’d be interested in hearing what you thought of them and how they changed the way the game plays.

Max’s Advanced Rules for Axis and Allies (1989)
by StrataMax, Inc.

Expansion Kit of Optional Rules for Axis & Allies®*

* Axis & Allies® is a registered trademark of Milton Bradley Company
The use of this trademark is not approved by Milton Bradley Company

World War II The Expansion (1989)
by Gamers Paradise

For Use With Axis & Allies

Axis & Allies is a registered trademark of Milton Bradley. This use of Milton Bradley’s trade mark by Gamers Paradise is not approved by Milton Bradley

The World at War (1990)

World War II The Expansion 2 (1993)
by Gamers Pardadise

For Axis & Allies

Axis & Allies is a registered trademark of Milton Bradley. This use of Milton Bradley’s trade mark by Gamers Paradise is not approved by Milton Bradley

World War II Expansion 3: The Battle of Midway (1994)
by Gamers Paradise

For Axis & Allies

Axis & Allies is a registered trademark of Milton Bradley. This use of Milton Bradley’s trade mark by Gamers Paradise is not approved by Milton Bradley

A & A Accessories (1995)
by Table Tactics

This accessories kit is to be used with the Milton Bradley Axis & Allies Game.

Central Powers (1995)

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/10170

by Table Tactics

Axis and Allies Expansion

New World Order (1996)
by Table Tactics

website:
AXIS & ALLIES® is a registered trademark of Milton Bradley. RISK® is a registered trademark of Parker Brothers.
The use of Milton Bradley’s or Parker Brothers’ trademark by Table TacticsTM is not approved by these companies.

The War to End All Wars (1997)
by Guild of Blades

World War I, Axis & Allies Variant

Axis & Allies is a registered trademark owned by Milton Bradley inc. Its use herein is without the express written consent of Milton Bradley Inc.

Axis & Allies Enhanced Realism Rules (1999)
by Argonne House Press

NOTE: This is not a self-contained game.
Milton Bradley’s Axis & Allies is required.

Enemy on the Horizon (1999)
by Black Baron Games

Expansion Set For Axis & Allies™

Axis & Allies is a registered trademark of Milton Bradley
This expansion set is not endorsed by Milton Bradley

Pacific at War (2003)
by Xeno Games

Throws players into the thick of the Pacific theater of World War II, with 1-2 players controlling Japan, and 1-3 players controlling the U.S., Britain and China.

Honor and Infamy: Commanders (2005)
by Armchair Commander Games

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