Dungeon Saga - Dwarf Kings Hold Unboxing

My Kickstarter copy of  'Dungeon Saga : Dwarf Kings Hold' by Mantic Games arrived today which provided me with a good excuse to produce my first blog as I post lots of pictures of unboxing the contents!

I went for the standard Dungeon Master pledge level which provided the game, the Adventurer's Companion set and loads of other extras thrown in by Mantic. With so much in the standard game itself I'll focus on the main Dungeon Saga set in this post and take a look at the extras in following blogs.

So, lets get this package unboxed!

Surprise Parcel that arrived!

For other backers, as explained in one of the latest Mantic updates, all items have been split between two cartons. Carton A is the one I received that contains the main game, Adventurer's Companion set and a few extra bits like the Return of Valandor expansion, the Kickstarter exclusive Dungeon Journal and a few other extras.

Carton B contains the other three expansion packs and is due to ship at a later date.

The Front of Dungeon Saga

The front sleeve shows off some fantastic artwork for Dungeon Saga, and inside slides out the box for the game which has been cleverly designed to look like an old book.

Removing the sleeve reveals the main box that has been designed to look like an old tome.

Closer look at the book styled box.

The entire box is designed to look like a book.

Flipping open the cover of the 'book' reveals the contents. Part of the spine forms a lip just under an inch that made it a bit fiddly lifting the books on top out, so you may have to be careful and bend the outer edge on the right hand side to get your finger in to fish the contents out. 

Opening the cover reveals the contents.

There is tonnes of items packed inside the box from books and card to miniatures, tokens and more!

Players will find lots of items inside the box!

First thing you'll come across is a Quick Start guide, Game Rule Book, Quest Book, The Necromancers Panel and a leaflet for other games produced by Mantic Games.

Various Books and References for the game.

The first book is the Quick Start Guide. This book along with the smaller deck of cards labelled 'open me first' is designed to introduce newcomers to the rules of Dungeon Saga and quickly get them playing through the first introductory quest.

Front of the introductory quick start book.

The second book is the full rule book that expands on the Quick Start Guide looking at the rules in more depth and introducing new ones detailing how to play the game as one of the Heroes, or by controlling the Evil forces as the Overlord.
On the back page is a handy quick reference guide that gives a summary of all the rules helping players play the game without constantly flicking through the book.

The full rulebook containing all rules to play DS.

The third book is the Quest Book for The Dwarf King's Hold story. This book contains the two tutorial missions from the Quick Start Guide along with eight quests that form a storyline seeing a group of daring adventurers fight through dungeons and undead to stop an evil necromancer Mortibris retrieving the Tome of Valandor and raising an army to spread darkness over the lands of Mantica.
These missions can be played as standalone games or as a campaign. Also in this book is background of the lands, history and stories of the Heroes and Villains of this storyline.
This book is designed to be read by the Evil Overlord player only, as it acts as a sort of Dungeon Masters book detailing what objectives the Heroes are aiming for, along with any surprises that may cross their path along the way!

The Quest book for the Dwarf King's Quest storyline.

Last of the first items you'll come across is the Necromancer Overlord Panel. Throughout the game, a group of players play the heroic adventurers while one player player the villainous Necromancer, raising all sorts of undead obstacles to stop the heroes dead in their tracks. This panel provides that player with a reference sheet of all the undead minions available for him to raise and fight with.

The handy quick reference sheet for the Necromancer player.

Now for the best part, looking at the miniatures! Inside the box will be numerous bags containing the various characters for the game, with each group produced in a different coloured plastic for easy identification on the board. For a board game, these miniatures are produced to a high quality. While not quite to the standard of say resin miniatures for wargames, the miniatures in this set are highly detailed and made of a hard coloured plastic. They come pre-built so they are ready to play. I think this is great as while more experienced hobbyists may wish to change the poses and paint the minis up, it also allows the miniatures ready to use out of the box for those who are new to the gaming hobby or are happy to use the plain coloured pieces.

First up is the undead minions. You'll get two bags, both containing the same contents pictured below.

One set of the Undead Minions that the Adventurers will fight against.

The largest of the undead minions, a Zombie Troll.

An Armoured Skeleton and Zombie Warrior

A Skeleton Archer and Warrior

Two Zombies

A Dwarf Revenant and Ghost

Next up is the bag containing our plucky Adventurers. These provide players with a traditional cast of heroes compiling of a Human Barbarian, a Dwarven Warrior, an Elven Ranger and a Human Wizard.

Orlaf, the Human Barbarian

Danor, the Human Wizard

Rordin, the Dwarf Fighter

Madriga, the Elf Ranger

Lastly is the bag containing the Evil Bosses that the Heroes will come across during some quests.

Hoggar, the Zombie Troll Shaman

Elshara, the Banshee

Grund, the Undead Dwarf King

Mortibris, the Necromancer and Nemesis of the story

In addition to the character miniatures the set also includes plastic scenery. Some of these pieces play a part to the game, such as doors or objectives, others are to add just a little bit extra to the dungeon exploring experience.

The collection of scenery included in the DS set.

The doors are used in game as obstacles to rooms in the dungeon, while scatter scenery like the barrels add a bit of character.

More Scenic pieces such as Crypts, Thrones, books, shelves and wells.

Book cases and Tables brings more scenery to the Dungeons.

Treasure Chests come in two parts, allowing them to be open or closed.

While the miniatures are highly detailed and full of character, there are a few small issues. Some Pieces haven't been assembled quite perfectly, with some pieces bent or not positioned correctly on the base. This isn't a huge issue however and is addressed in a paragraph advising owners on how to heat and reposition parts of the model. Also there are small mold lines running along some of the miniatures that can be easily cleaned up.

An example of one miniature that hasn't quite been assembled correctly, with one foot hovering off the floor.

While playing through quests, players will also have cards to match their heroes and Bosses, detailing their abilities and stats.

Stat cards for the four heroes and four Villain Bosses.

On reverse is stats for 'Legendary' modes of the four heroes and Mortibris.

The Dungeon maps are laid out with cardboard tiles, as tokens are used for various game effects.

Range Rulers, counters and map tiles.

Cards are also used in the game to represent items, abilities, spells and so on. These come in two decks, one to be used with the Quick Start Guide tutorial quests, and the second larger deck to be added for the full quests in the Quest book.

The starter deck on the left is used in the tutorial quests, and is then added to the right deck for the full game.

Cards come in various types containing things like spells and items.

And lastly, six blue dice for the heroes and six bone coloured for the Necromancer, plastic clips to hold map tiles together and a couple of bags to store your items in. Also the book box contains two cardboard dividers to secure pieces in place while transporting the game about. These pieces come out easily, so offers the option for people to create their own inserts if they wish to.

And there you have it, a lengthy but I hope thorough look at Dungeon Saga : Dwarf King's Hold. I hope you have enjoyed seeing the contents, if you are interested in your own copy but missed the kickstarter then fear not! The game is now available to pre-order HERE.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned as I will be looking at the other items that arrived such as the Adventurers Companion and Return to Valandor expansion!

Feel free to leave a comment below and let me know if you're looking forward to getting a copy yourself, or what you make of it if you already received one. Also like and share the Wargamer Next Door Facebook page to keep up to date with latest posts and new. 

Happy Wargaming folks, till next time!

TWGND Rob.