First time poster here...

[Morfedel]

Hi there. I was pointed to this game from the War Machine forum as a game I might want to look at. Sadly, I don't speak french, so it's been challenging navigating around here... I want to thank the company for creating an english forums though.

The miniatures look gorgeous! My question, however, is how does the game play? I just downloaded the pdf translations, but I thought I'd ask what responses you've had.


Thanks!

[Lemminkäinen]

Hello and welcome to the fold

I'm happy to tell you that the game plays extremely well. It's the best skirmish rules set I've come across. The way that control zones works means that positioning of the minis is extremely important. The command point system gives a very nice resource allocation problem with cool tactical challenges and the individual fighters are highly synergetic. The game also plays rather fast and furious. A very, very good game

[Fenris]

Welcome to the HD community !

you'll find unofficial rules translation here : http://arch01.forum.helldorado.fr/index.php?topic=489.0

and short descriptions about the gameplay : http://arch01.forum.helldorado.fr/index.php?topic=493.0

[Xerxes]

Yup, game is great, a mix of WM, Confrontation and infinity i'd say, but way better then any of those. Very fast and brutal fights, great idea with command which gives lot of tactics to the game. Every one i know left any other system after just seeing a sneak of minis, first game only ensured them this system is best we've ever played. Sorry for rough english , i'm polish

[Morfedel]

Yup, game is great, a mix of WM, Confrontation and infinity i'd say, but way better then any of those. Very fast and brutal fights, great idea with command which gives lot of tactics to the game. Every one i know left any other system after just seeing a sneak of minis, first game only ensured them this system is best we've ever played. Sorry for rough english , i'm polish

Your english is far better than my polish, I assure you! 

So... ok then, are the minis available in the USA yet? And are there english translations of the cards? Because this high praise just really caught my attention, and now I want to spend some of my hard-earned cash on it!  \

Oh... and not to be a pain in the rear, but are there any english reviews of the game out there that I can read? Thanks!

[Morfedel]

Oh, and what are the other factions? I think I've reasoned out three of them: Demons, Mercenaries, and Saracens. What are the other two?

[Larkin Vain]

There are the westerners and the lost.

Westerners
http://fantization.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=9553

Lost
http://fantization.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=9551

All in all lots of cool stuff.

[Xerxes]

http://www.gloryandcoin.com/?page_id=337

English cards and skills sheet.

[Morfedel]

http://www.gloryandcoin.com/?page_id=337

English cards and skills sheet.

Ah, ok. Thanks!

Hey, I've noticed one element in the rules that could, potentially, be a problem. Where would be the most appropriate place to post an observation of that nature?

[mEdwards]

Post it here.

What part of the rules do you think is a problem?

[Morfedel]

Post it here.

What part of the rules do you think is a problem?

The rules on cover. It says you receive cover if you have at least 50% of your model covered by the terrain in question. Here is the problem: in a competitive environment, most certainly at a tournament, I can easily see arguments breaking out concerning whether an object that's close in coverage is 40%, 50%, or 60% covered (clearly, one with only a little or a lot won't ben an issue).

So, when it comes to the 50% coverage issue, I think its going to spark a lot of fights when its close. It certainly will at tournaments, and with any group that are highly competitive.

I actually have a couple other issues, but it might be that its because its due to the quickstart rules being translated rather than the full rules. But, one thing it barely discusses at all is terrain: how does different terrain effect movmement, for instance? Also, command: there was one ability, for instance, that allowed the model to run or charge through certain types of terrain without a command, but there is nothing mentioned about a command allowing for such things (and of course, without the terrain rules....)

Finally, the list of special abilities are quite intimidiating. Now, I play War Machine, and every model's special abilities are lised right on the card. Having to remember all that is going to be pretty intimidating for awhile, since they use weapon tables on the cards instead.

Those are my basic concerns. I assume most of it will be addressed in the core rulebook, though that won't help the 50% coveage rules (my biggest concern) or the massive list of special abilities.

[mathieu]

So, when it comes to the 50% coverage issue, I think its going to spark a lot of fights when its close. It certainly will at tournaments, and with any group that are highly competitive.

Not very many ways around that. In a tourney, the ref will decide. In a competitive group people will argue over and over about anything anyway

one thing it barely discusses at all is terrain: how does different terrain effect movmement, for instance? Also, command: there was one ability, for instance, that allowed the model to run or charge through certain types of terrain without a command, but there is nothing mentioned about a command allowing for such things (and of course, without the terrain rules....)

Terrain rules are a whole chapter of the book that is not covered by the french pdf available for free online. Therefore they're not part of its translation either

[Cage]

Well i'm not an expert by any means so i can only give general comment. 50% rule cover is fairly standard for many systems, but given certain people i agree that it can cause trouble....but it takes two to tango, so if you personally decide you'll give your opponent the benefit of making the decision then at least you are playing truly to fairplay, next best thing is always a 50/50 dice roll (agree before hand with your opponent that any disputes will be settled this way, don't wait till the argument has started)

The special skills are very similar to the game Hybrid, for me it's what makes a game like this beautiful...choice of action, there's a million and one games out there where you are just using basic statlines to fight. I enjoy skirmish games far more when i have a nice array of options to make instead of standard moves and attacks. I really love the idea in Helldorado that some of these special skills cost permanent points, a fantastic concept.

Well i've only read the translated rules, so it's early days for any indepth analysis of what works and what doesnt. I would say this game seems to favour a different style of terrain given the setting, cover can be a real problem in built up city fights, but i'm not sure it'll be so problematic on the wind swept plains of hell.

[Morfedel]

So, when it comes to the 50% coverage issue, I think its going to spark a lot of fights when its close. It certainly will at tournaments, and with any group that are highly competitive.

Not very many ways around that. In a tourney, the ref will decide. In a competitive group people will argue over and over about anything anyway

Sure there is! Do like War Machine does... If any part of the base is obscured by terrain, you get a cover bonus (+4) if its hard terrain, or concealment (+2 )  if its soft terrain. Hard terrain = things like rock and walls, where soft terrain is things like fences and bushes.

so its pretty simple: all or nothing. The arguments only ever occur if there is a tiny sliver that may or may not be obscured.... thats much less likely to happen than 50%, if that makes any sense.

well, maybe it won't. It just seems like it would!

So... how much terain is used in this game? War Machine uses an average of around 5 pieces of terrain of varying sizes on a 4'x4' board. What about Hell Dorado? I saw something about a piece of terrain for every... what was it, 10cmx10cm or 10"x10" section I think, on a 30" x30" board? If thats right, then that's, what, 9 pieces of terrain?

[Lemminkäinen]

So... how much terain is used in this game? War Machine uses an average of around 5 pieces of terrain of varying sizes on a 4'x4' board. What about Hell Dorado? I saw something about a piece of terrain for every... what was it, 10cmx10cm or 10"x10" section I think, on a 30" x30" board? If thats right, then that's, what, 9 pieces of terrain?

The terrain rules for Hell Dorado are extremely unique and tactical. You have a limited amount of credits and bid blindly on sectors of the board and the highest bidding player gets to buy terrain for that sector. There are four different battlefields detailed in the full rules, with unique terrain for them (giant maws that frighten lemure, eternal whirwinds, ancient frozen heroes, healing puddles, things that turn you into an avatar of fire and all sorts of incredible stuff). Not to mention the conflict zones and catastrophes - stuff like a rain of flesh eating maggots or howls of the lost souls drowning out the orders of the officers. Very, very cool stuff.

For the record, btw, I've had no trouble with the cover rules so far.