War Chest is a chess style game with different units.
It’s all about control.
In War Chest, You must successfully manage not only your armies on the battlefield, but those that are waiting to be deployed.
War Chest Game Overview
Quick Rules Summary
Players get 4 unit cards and a matching stack of coins for each. These can either be assigned or drafted. Two of each unit coins go in a bag, the rest go on the cards.
Each unit has different effects.
On your turn, you draw 3 coins from your bag.
You can Deploy a coin to the board, creating the unit of that type. You can only have one unit of each type on the board at a time.
Or you can Bolster, placing a coin on a matching unit already on the board making it stronger.
You can discard a coin facedown to take the Initiative Marker from your opponent or recruit a new coin from your supply.
You can discard a coin face up to Move the matching unit on the board into an adjacent space.
Or have the matching unit Control the location it is on. Change the control marker to one of your colour.
Or Attack, remove one coin from an adjacent target and return it to the box.
Finally, you can discard a coin face up to activate a units tactic as shown on their card. These are unique to each unit.
How do you win?
Control all 3 points on the board to win.
Main Mechanisms
This is a deck building, chess style game. Getting the deck-building balance right is the key.
Theme
Just generic war stuff. don’t think there’s a plot here.
But lancers attack in a straight line and archers attack at range so the units themselves have theme.
Setup
Draft cards and get the tokens, very simple.
Components & Artwork
The tokens are nice and heavy and the bags are nice.
The minimal art and iconography is very clear.
Ease of Teaching
like most chess-style games, it’s easy to teach the rules but hard to teach strategy.
Similar Games
I would go with Onitama, another chess-style game where cards dictate how pieces move.
War Chest Review
Positives
Easy to play game.
Plenty of variability, with around 30 different units over 4 boxes.
You can bolster units to make them strong, but the more coins on them, the fewer in the bag so you can activate them. It’s a fun balancing act.
Negatives
Can be an anti-climax when you see the end game coming a few turns before it does.
Summary
A fun twist on chess and deck-building.
Jesta ThaRogue