Chaos Marauders
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''Chaos Marauders'' is a card-based board game for 2-4 players designed by
Stephen Hand Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; h ...
, illustrated by
John Blanche John Blanche is a British fantasy and science fiction illustrator and modeler who worked on Games Workshop's ''White Dwarf'' magazine, ''Warhammer Fantasy Battle'', ''Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay'' and ''Warhammer 40,000'' games and was the art d ...
and was published by
Games Workshop Games Workshop Group (often abbreviated as GW) is a British manufacturer of miniature wargames, based in Nottingham, England. Its best-known products are ''Warhammer Age of Sigmar'' and ''Warhammer 40,000''. Founded in 1975 by John Peake (gam ...
in 1987. A second edition was published by Fantasy Flight Games in 2009. The object of the game is to create "battle lines" of orcs and a motley assortment of creatures from the
Warhammer Warhammer may refer to: * War hammer, a medieval weapon Warhammer media franchise *''Warhammer'', a series of games and related media: ** ''Warhammer'' (game), a table-top fantasy miniature wargame, and origin of the franchise ** ''Warhammer Fan ...
universe, including skaven (with their formidable Horned Rat Standard, and " Clan Skyrre Blowback" flamethrower), goblins,
dwarf Dwarf or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a being from Germanic mythology and folklore * Dwarf, a person or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a humanoid ...
captives,
hobgoblins A hobgoblin is a household spirit, typically appearing in folklore, once considered helpful, but which since the spread of Christianity has often been considered mischievous. William Shakespeare, Shakespeare identifies the character of Puck (A Mi ...
, "crummy snotling slaves", an Orc War Wyvern and the eponymous
Chaos Marauders ''Chaos Marauders'' is a card game, card-based board game for 2-4 players designed by Stephen Hand, illustrated by John Blanche and was published by Games Workshop in 1987. A second edition was published by Fantasy Flight Games in 2009. The obj ...
. The game is notable for its similarity to the 1977 boardgame ''Ogallala'' :de:Ogallala (Spiel).


Gameplay

The various creatures are represented by colour cards, and being awarded different Attack Point and Victory Point statistics, and players must use these to build up to 3 'battle lines' on their battle sheet. The beginning of a battle line starts with a standard bearer and ends with a
musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...
. Additional cards are placed in between these as each player draws and places them on their playsheet in turn. There are restrictions on placement based on troop-types and clan-allegiance which are indicated by the symbols on the cards. Some of the cards have special abilities, or act as random events - such as Odlugg Spleenripper, an ogre who might eat all your troop cards, or the aforementioned Skyrre's Blowback which might destroy an entire battle line of another player, or explode and destroy the attacker. Once a line of cards is complete, the total of its Attack Points are calculated, then it may 'attack' an incomplete battle-line of the opponent - the success of which is determined by rolling the "Cube of Devastation" - a six sided dice with 5 sides emblazoned with an orcish eye, and one, with the Mark of Chaos. If the dreaded Mark of Chaos is rolled, the attacker's line routs, and the defender wins all their booty (cards with Victory Points but no Attack Points) and they lose all their troop cards. If an orcish eye is rolled, the opposite occurs. The winner is determined the player who has accumulated the most Victory Points when all three battle lines have been completed on one sheet.


Critical response

The game was enthusiastically received at the 1987 Games Day, with an over-booked tournament, and impromptu games being set up around the official event. A number of 'expansion kits' were planned, potentially featuring other armies and races from the Warhammer universe, but none were produced.


Reviews

* ''
Casus Belli A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one b ...
'' #42 (Dec 1987)


Controversy

Whilst the game is credited to Stephen Hand, it bears a strong resemblance to the German board game ''Ogallala'' (1977) :de:Ogallala (Spiel), designed by Rudi Hoffmann and published in English as ''Up the Creek'' by Waddingtons. Hoffman also later produced a sci-fi themed version for Waddingtons called "Starships" (1980). The similarity to Hoffmanns game lead to accusations of plagiarism being made against Games Workshop in the gaming small-press and German media.


References


External links

* * *{{bgg par, section1=game, id1=2047, name1=Up the Creek Fantasy board games Warhammer Fantasy Board games introduced in 1987