...in which I discuss something non-Warhammer

Titling this post was a doozy. I know the bulk of my readers out there read because I talk about Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40K. But there is such a vast plethora of other games out there!

Sticking with my Breotonnia theme as of late, I would like to spotlight one of my favorite independant board games.

Shadows over Camelot is a co-operative Arthurian Legend based game. Players work together to complete various quests to help King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table defeat the forces of evil. Obtaining Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake, jousting the Black Knight, and the quest for the Holy Grail are just a few of the different quests contained within the game.

There is even an option for one of the faithful knights to be a traitor, and secretly work to sabotage the other players.

The game comes with a fold out board, and 3 side boards for the quests that can only be completed once (Excalibur, Lancelot/Dragon, and the Grail). Each Knight has his own coat of arms, a power card that outlines what you can do in a turn, and what special properties the knight has.

 Also included in the box are 18 miniatures (7 Knights, 4 Pict Warriors, 4 Celt Warriors and Excalibur, Lancelot's Armor, and the Holy Grail.) All of these are closely in scale to GW's minis. (Hmmm.... I smell a mod coming along....) they are of a good quality plastic and look awesome. There is also a pack of the Knights you can buy seperately from the game, that come pre-painted.

Personally, I'm thinking about picking up the painted knights for use in the board game, then using the unpainted ones to create some really nifty looking Grail Knights.

Partially why I like this game is that is is extremely difficult! The game is only as hard as you make it, and you really have to be firing on all cylindars to win. The base game supports 3-7 players, and it is most difficult with 3 or 7. 4-5 usually makes for a fun game, but more than that, and you find yourself being backstabbed by the traitor, and at 3 you find yourself horribly outnumbered.

Days of Wonder also publishes an expansion for the game, titled "Merlin's Company". This is an absolute must if you own the core game. The expansion adds the dynamic of having Merlin travel with you to aid you on your quests. This does make things much easier, but it also adds some nasty bonuses to the dark side.

My favorite feature of the expansion is the two minis that come in the box, Merlin and Sir Bedevere. This brings the amout of players up to 8, and it also comes with alternate coats of arms for the 6 Knights in the original box. (Not King Arthur) This means that while 8 people cn play at once, there are 15 characters possible to play.

All in all, I absolutely adore Days of Wonder's Shadows Over Camelot. Five out of five.