Wrath of Ashardalon Review

[jcrog]

Wrath of Ashardalon is a cooperative Dungeons and Dragons board game. You delve into dungeons with goals based on the different adventures. Can you survive til the end of this dungeon crawl?

Wrath of Ashardalon Review | play board games

 

[Aramax]

you did a very good explanation of the game ,but you neglected to explane the additions or differences between this and Castle Ravenloft
(which would have been what I was interested in)

 

[jcrog]

[MENTION=49002]Aramax[/MENTION] - Sorry man I don't have Castle Ravenloft. I do hope to get it. And if I do I plan to do a review of it and I will highlight some differences (if there are any)

Thanks for reading!

 

[havard]

Nice review.

Who is Ashardalon? I assume he is the dragon, but why does he want revenge? Is this game tied to the Nentir Vale or any of the other settings?

-Havard

 

[Saeviomagy]

you did a very good explanation of the game ,but you neglected to explane the additions or differences between this and Castle Ravenloft
(which would have been what I was interested in)

The primary differences are:
Different monsters (ie - every monster is different between the two sets)
Different conditions - ravenloft has slowed and immobilized, ashardalon has poisoned and dazed.
Different tiles.
Rules for locked doors and chambers - ashardalon has rules for doors being locked or trapped, and has rules for chambers, where instead of exploring and uncovering a single dungeon tile, you uncover an entire multi-tile room and are given a mission in that room.
Different characters - The rogue, warrior, cleric and mage are all in ashardalon, but they're different races and have different powers. All-new is the paladin.

Oh, and it also explains that at the start of the game you draw a treasure card and discard anything that isn't an item - just keep drawing and discarding until you get an item, which was a bit confusing in ravenloft ("Yay, I regain 1 lost hitpoint! Before anyone has taken damage! Woot!)

 

[Jhaelen]

I just played the solo scenario with each of the five heroes last weekend. So far I've not been impressed, but then again with Castle Ravenloft I also had more fun playing the group scenarios.

One of most significant (and praised) differences between the two is the introduction of sentry monsters: Instead of going after the heroes and attacking, they reveal additional tiles, essentially 'calling for reinforcements'.
There are also 'long corridor' tiles that cause additional monsters to appear.

All of this together is a bit too much, imho. Three out of five games ended with a long string of monsters composed of one of every type chasing (and overwhelming) my hero.

 

[havard]

What are the scenarios like?

-Havard

 

[jcrog]

Finally got Castle Ravenloft...

Castle Ravenloft is a cooperative Dungeons and Dragons board game. You explore the castle that is filled with monsters and try to meet scenario-specific goals.

How does it compare to Wrath of Ashardalon?

Castle Ravenloft Review | play board games

 

[Nebten]

Nice review.

Who is Ashardalon? I assume he is the dragon, but why does he want revenge? Is this game tied to the Nentir Vale or any of the other settings?

-Havard

Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (Wrath of Ashardalon)

Ashardalon is a Great Red Wyrm that you fight at the end of the AD&D box campaign, Dragon Mountain. While many people pan the campaign, when I ran it I thought the lead up to Ashardalon was very well done. The hordes of enemies fade into the background leaving traps for the party to get past with their wits. They don't have time to rest, because like Castle Ravenloft, Ashardalon had total control over his domain. There is even a little twist at the end.

In my game Ashardalon escaped, against its judgement due to the massive horde it had (but you gotta reward the adventureres!)

Maybe now after 12 years, Ashardalon will have its vengence!

 

[Larrin]

my experience was that while Raven loft was threatening, it was winnable (but not always) and very enjoyable, even to new players. Ashadalon is mostly about being poisoned and dazed all the time while fighting monsters that summon more monsters and dying horribly, which was not what i wanted for the new players i introduced it too (same results with mildly more experienced players too).

Has anyone else felt this while playing?