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| Dark Age 2017 Master Rules from CoolMiniOrNot |
The Dark Age 2017 Master Rules is a rulebook for the Dark Age system from CoolMiniOrNot. It provides the basic rules for a miniatures skirmish wargame system set in the Dark Age universe. The force lists and rules for the units for playing the game are published on separate cards you have to obtain to play the game. Both the rules and the cards are available as free downloads on the Dark Age website.
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Details - Dark Age 2017 Master Rules for Dark Age from CoolMiniOrNot
Wargame rulebook: Dark Age 2017 Master Rules
Product name: 2017 Master Rules, Product Code: DAG0014, Series: -, Setting: Dark Age universe, System: Dark Age system, Company: CoolMiniOrNot, Production: 2017.05-2018-
Designer: Bryan Steele, David Doust, Michael Shinall
Features: hardcover
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Review - Dark Age 2017 Master Rules for Dark Age from CoolMiniOrNot
Opening the book
The book is overall very nice. It's full colour, with lots of illustrations and photos of the actual miniatures. It could have been better with more artwork from Brom, but every product would be better that way, so it's okay. It has a hard cover. so it will be durable. The book itself is A4 size, the usual size for rulebooks, and it fits on top of the plastic tray in the Dark Age: Path to Glory set.
Contents (76 pages)
- Setting (p4-25, 22 pages, 29%): A setting introduction.
- Rules (p26-58, 33 pages, 43%): Rules. You'll need to read them if you'd like to play Dark Age system.
- Scenarios and objectives (p59-69, 10 pages, 13%): Rules for missions.
- Fiction (p70-73, 4 pages, 5%): Short story set in the world of Dark Age.
- Templates (p74-75, 2 pages, 3%): Templates you can cut from the book or use it to create photocopies.
Reading the book
The book is good, easy to follow.
The text: The text is easy to read, easy to comprehend.
Setting: The setting looks like a generic 'forgotten planet' sci-fi world, although it's just the peak of the iceberg compared to the setting info published in previous products.
Rules: The rules look easy to follow for players who have some experience in wargames.
Information: I suppose the rules give you everything you need to know about playing the game.
Differences between prints
My copy is a first printing. I know of no other prints or differences between prints.
Who will need this?
If you are interested in playing Dark Age, this is the right book for you at the moment. Although you can download the rules for free, it's always useful to have a physical book you can use in games.
If you are interested in the Dark Age universe, but you don't want to play the game, there is some setting information in this book, but it's minimal. I don't think it would worth the price of the book. If you'd buy the book for the Brom artwork, there is probably one or two works of his, all the other artworks just copy his style and themes.
If you are interested in a generic futuristic wargame, you can try to use the game, but it will be some work to cut away the parts that you don't need.
Recommendation
The book is useful for playing Dark Age. I don't think you'll find much use of it for any other purpose.
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Possible uses
The scenarios and the secondary objectives can be used for any other games.
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The Dark Age 2017 Master Rules book fits into the Dark Age: Path to Glory box, although you won't be able to close the top completely.
There are some cards printed into the back of the book that provide some variety for the scenario objectives. The same cards are printed in the Secondary Objective Deck 2017.
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| The cards in the Dark Age 2017 Master Rules | The cards from the Secondary Objective Deck 2017 |
A cardboard version of the templates printed in this book can be found in the Dark Age: Path to Glory set.
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| The templates in the Dark Age 2017 Master Rules | The templates from the Dark Age: Path to Glory |
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Resources - Dark Age 2017 Master Rules for Dark Age from CoolMiniOrNot
Official
2017 Master Rules - Free download
Errata for the 2017 Master Rules - Free download
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Buying the product - Dark Age 2017 Master Rules for Dark Age from CoolMiniOrNot
Price
Base price(Dark Age 2017 Master Rules)(2017): ? GBP / ? EUR/ 20 USD
Where can you buy it?
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Do you have the Dark Age 2017 Master Rules for Dark Age from Mantic Games? How do you like it? Would you recommend them to others? Tell your opinion in the comments!
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