Ascension Chronicle of the Godslayer

"The History: for those ancient enough to remember the old game
This is a new version of a game produced by the games workshop back in 1993 (so not that ancient anyway...maybe), upon opening the box it is similar in many respects, it uses the same basic map but with fewer areas on it and this newer version does look a lot better, and unlike the old version all the buildings are in 3D. The original contained a few extra areas that were represented on separate card sections such as Horus’s forces being consigned to a card with Orbit written on it the new version has all this integrated into the board including a new strategic map. However the biggest difference comes in the game play, Dice are out and cards are in. Upon delving into the rule book which is much larger than the original it became clear that all similarity between this and the original is merely superficial.
The Game play: or Does it bore me?
Because the game is driven by cards/events it is harder to predict the out come of a battle while as always using an overwhelming force will ensure victory it is much harder to co-ordinate such a large force at once and this lends you to fight smaller more desperate battles. There are a lot more rules to absorb than the original but once you have a couple of games under your belt you will find it flows very well, there are 6 scenarios to play too this gives the game slightly more longevity that the original that was basically always the same at the beginning, each scenario increases the difficulty slightly and the randomness of events so it is best for new players to begin with scenario one as the rules suggest, also worth noting is that the original units in the game that were all represented by cardboard squares used there values on each Attack/Defence /Movement, are now replaced with plastic bases with pointy notches on to represent ranked units between rank 1 and 4, 1 being guard and 4 being a titan for example, at first it seems to take away some of the individuality of units, however playing though the game makes you realised that cards that you are using make up for this titans still blow up walls and cause breeches and space marines are still tough as nails.
Like the original this game is still a 2 player so it does stay faithful to the original experience of Chaos vs Imperium , but it would have been good to have been a 2-4 player more like risk or axes and allies after all it is the battle for earth I am sure there is scope to make it such.
The Quality: or did it fall apart?
This is an expensive game, four times more than I paid for the original so many years ago, however the quality of the board is much improved and the card and counters are thick and stain resistant (for the most part it would seem) much better quality than the original but that is to be expected, one small disappointment was the buildings I was expecting them to be sturdy plastic but they are vacuum formed thin plastic and very brittle. The miniatures themselves are of a good quality and detail better than a lot of board games I have played and I would say even better quality than twilight imperium, there is a high level of detail on them though it is hard to tell the difference between chaos cultists and chaos war bands at first (the war band have spikes on the shoulders of one of them) but once they have been placed on their ranked bases it is easy to tell the more capable war bands from the cultists
Overview: or I have rambled for long enough
I would like to score this game 5/5 but I can’t, it will have to make do with 4 out of 5, while still a very good game that is more than worth getting if you’re a fan of games workshops warhammer 40’000 or the Horus heresy books, It isn’t perfect, I do feel that in time the games will become samey and it can be frustrating that you need the order cards to move and fight so all your careful planning can go to waste but that is how the game works and your opponent must face the same challenges. So it is still enjoyable. Though from the few games i have played i would say the outcome is tilted slightly in the favour of the imperial player winning.
I would say that a game like risk or axis and allies even though based on dice is still more strategic than this though that is probably just my personal preference. The really good news is it means I don’t need to get rid of my original Horus heresy either as it is such a different game.
Thanks for reading and well done on making though the labyrinth of grammar and spelling errors that I leave as traps for the unwary. I hope this has been useful if your thinking of buying, though remember this is all my opinion and experience of this game and as the Jedi said “truth is only true from a certain point of view” so don’t feel the need to flame me on the internet if you disagree.
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– Paul