Puppet Wars by Wyrd.

[Damore]

I was wonder if anyone else has heard of or played Puppet Wars by Wyrd Miniatures? I preordered the game and received it on October 10. Before receiving the game I had never played the game or bought any of Wyrd’s products. I you have played it let me know what you think too. So here is short review of Puppet Wars since I have only had the game a few weeks.

http://www.puppet-wars.com/

Basics:
Puppet Wars is a miniatures based board game for 2-4 players, and each player builds a group of puppets to rip the other player’s puppets apart. The game includes enough for 2 players to get started: game board, miniatures, tokens, and 2 puppet decks. There is also a multiplayer expansion and boosters that include other miniatures.

Miniatures:
One of the main reason I like miniature games is because there are normally several cool minis, and Puppet Wars does have several. The minis are a very fun and I think they have a lot of character. So far my favorite miniature is the Hooded Rider.

Board:
I really like the concept of toys and puppets fighting on a workbench/floor, and that is what the board looks like. The only complaint I have about the game board is the art is a little dark. It is hard to see the black dots for line of sight.

Cards:
The stat card for each puppet has great art work and looks very durable. Each stat card is double sided. One side has all the abilities and actions that belong to that puppet, and the other has an upgrade.
The puppet deck is a deck of cards that uses the suits of Puppet Wars(Rams, Crows, Tomes, & Masks) instead of the normal playing card suits. The cards number 2-13, 4 aces, and 2 jokers. The deck seems to be very durable and has great art work with a different puppet on each card.

Gameplay:
Since I have only had the game for a few weeks I have only gotten to play the starter games, and a few normal games. The starter games were very easy to learn and a great way to run quick a demo that is simple. Once you have all the basic down the game really starts to take off. I’m still trying to figure out what puppets I want to use in my army. How build your puppet army and your puppet deck uses are a big part of the game strategy.

[Belverker]

I have had a couple of games using the recommended crews from the box. It is an extremely fun game. One thing I like is that you don't shuffle the card deck at the end of each turn so that your luck should balance out over time...Although if comes when you need it or not is another story...

[Shrapnelsmile]

We are having fun with this one.

[BurnTheMonkey]

I finally get to play my first game this afternoon. Just putting a coat of varnish on 40 cute little puppet dudes who ive spent the last week or so painting. With the intention of ripping as many of them to shreds as possible later.

Seems oddly cathartic.

[sssk]

Hi Folks,

Sorry for a bit of threadomancy, but I thought it better to stick a response on here rather than start a whole new thread about puppet wars.

I used to be a warhammer fantasy player (still have the armies, but don't really have any opponents/time for it, so the models are currently gathering dust), and recently I've been getting itchy feet for playing some smaller games. I've never really ventured outside the realm of GW, but recently I've been looking at wyrd's stuff, and I really like the style. Now as much as I'd like to get into malifaux, I'd suffer the same lack of opponents problem I have with warhammer.

In contrast, from the looks of it, I could pretty much buy puppet wars, paint up the minis for 2 (or more) players (ie opponents don't need to buy anything), and then it seems like a comparatively gentle transition into the world of "wargaming", so that it'd not be too hard to get some of my more liberal thinking, non-wargaming, friends into playing it.

So I guess the question is: how approachable is puppet wars for people with absolutely no history in the weird (wyrd) and wonderful world of fantasy/sci fi miniature gaming?
Another smaller question is: is it worth the (not insubstantial) start-up costs... though this is less of an issue when you compare it to (for instance) buying a computer game.

Thanks
sssk

[Damore]

I have never played any Wyrd games other then Puppet Wars, and didn't have a problem learning the game.

I'm the only on in my gaming group that has Puppet Wars, but I have at least one of each mini (minus Pokey Viktoria & Lucius). We just use my minis and it works out well if you have a small gaming group.

Look around at the different online stores because you can find a much better price on the minis then Wyrd's store.