Front Line No Komrades: Review
Information:
Mechanics: Hand Management, Player Elimination, Take That
Player Age: 8+ Player Count: 2 - 8 PlayersTime to Play: 20 Minutes
Game Designer: Brian Niro
Player Age: 8+
Game Designer: Brian Niro
Objective:
The horror of war is upon us. In some games you would be working co-operatively to survive but not with ‘Front Line No Komrades’. As the name suggests, you should expect comradery to be at an all time low while you backstab, plot and intrigue you way to victory. Whatever you do you must try to survive longer than your fellow komrades.Card Anatomy:
Characters:
Each character is unique and has a card which is placed in the character line, another card representing their ability, and a health tracker. Each player will begin at 10 health unless playing at high player counts (6+). So up to five players gives everyone 10 health. Where one health is subtracted for every one additional player above the fifth player.
Initiative card:
This determines which player can resolve their action first each round. After each round this card will be passed clockwise.
Target Cards:
Used to outline what location the incoming cards will be targeting each round.
Incoming Cards:
These are the terrors of war. These outside forces will be objectively thrown into the battlefield to damage you and your fellow komrades. Thankfully, each player will be able to see the incoming chaos at the start of every round and is able to plan accordingly.Each incoming card will show the damage type (linear, splash and special) where the attack will cover. Each incoming card also has a special effect.
Action Cards:
There are three types of action cards that player will use to survive; maneuver, equipment, and event.
Manuever and event cards both have effects on each but are used differently. Manuever cards are played face down every round and the action is resolved when the card is flipped on that players turn.
Event cards, however, are an exception to this rule. Once per round an event card can be played by each player. Such as taking other players cards or moving their characters.
Equipment cards have an effect like every other card as well as a durability value. Unlike the other cards, these will stay attached to your character every round until their durability depletes, as the equipment will lose one durability after every use.
Set up:
- Every player will pick a character and take the two corresponding character cards and set the health track depending on player count.
- Shuffle and place the incoming and action decks within reach of all players.
- The first player that sat at the table will determine the order of the characters, then leave an empty space and place the Kommissar behind that space. This card is simply to identify where the end of the line is (see example below).
- The character at the front of the line is the first player.
- Each player will draw five action cards.
- Each player will draft their starting hand by choosing one action card and passing the rest of the action cards to the left until each player has chosen five cards total (this can be skipped for the first game).
How to Play:
The game will play in a series of rounds until there is only one player standing. At the start of every round an incoming card will be revealed and this will be the type of damage that the characters must face this round.Simultaneously each player will place an action card face down (remember, event cards are played differently).
Starting with the initiave player and continuing clockwise, each player will resolve their action card. This will normally result in the character line being manipulated to save your character from damage. If an event card is revealed this way it is instantly discarded and no effect will resolve. This is often useful if you want the character line to remain exactly as it is.
When moving due to action cards, ‘backwards movement’ will always refer to moving towards the Kommissar. ‘Forward movement’ in turn refers to movement directed away from the Kommissar. When moving, the other characters will either swap with your character or will be pushed toward the empty spot creating a new empty spot behind your character.
Once all actions have occurred, the incoming card will resolve and damage any characters within the firing range. If your character has died they will be removed from the character line and the Kommissar will be moved one step closer to the other characters.
Each player still in the game will redraw action cards back to five, the initiave card will be passed to the player on the left. This gameplay will continue until there is only one lucky komrade standing.
Final Thoughts:
Pros:- Easy to learn and easy to play.
- A ‘take that’ game with a fun party atmosphere.
- Wide player range.
Cons:
- Some players will not enjoy the player elimination.
'Front line no komrades' is what i consider a beer and pretzel game, and a fun one at that. A beer and pretzel game is a game that can be played while socialising, this is a similar genre to party games but tend to involve more stratergy, but not too much strategy so that it allows for conversation during play.
This is the kind of game that I would bring out to play with friends who I haven't seen in a while as it doesn't involve too much concentration to play. The rules are easy but it keeps everyone entertained when you are trying to push into the oncoming damage. If you enjoy light games with take-that elements that can go from 2-10 players without losing its ouster, than this is a game I recommend.
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