Dark Age is one of those games that wasn’t really on my radar until Natfka over at Faeit212 started posting about it regularly. He seemed really dedicated and enthusiastic about the game which got me curious about it so I asked if for our next gaming session we could pull it out and play a few rounds.
The short of it: this is an excellent skirmish game and it feels quite distinct from other systems out there. Yes, the post-apocalyptic theme could feel tired but it’s actually handled really well here with some excellent inspiration drawn from Brom.
Natfka fielded some Scarrd which look a lot like something out of a Hellraiser film with very tortured Cenobite style armor and self mutilation, while I took some Brood, which has only a few models that even vaguely resemble human forms straight out of a toxic swamp. Both of our armies included one seriously huge heavy that accounted for roughly half our army points, and they felt a little like using Tags in Infinity, which was awesome.
The rules are quite tight and games move very quickly over 8 turns. Players take turns activating units or linked squads until each faction has all been activated.
Each unit has a set number of actions that can be spent in any combination of moving, shooting or close combat, so the game can feel very cinematic as a model charges through and murders a whole slew do enemies in a single activation. That means that a lot of the positioning in the game is about setting up your units to go on a tear rather than spending 3/4ths of their actions to reach someone and swing once, leaving your opponent close by to retaliate much more fearsomely with their excess actions now not needed to reach you!
Shooting is handled very well in what is a very melee-centric game. Many of the ranged weapons are old and unreliable, having terrible accuracy at long distance and often malfunctioning hurting your own units! This may sound unfun, but in game you will see that they still prove deadly, but must be used as a support option, not a primary plan.
The only aspect of the rules I wasn’t sold on was the roll-off for initiative to see who activates a unit first each turn. It’s a simple roll-off but often getting to swing first can be a game breaker, particularly late game when everything is probably in charge range. I feel like it shouldn’t be handled 50/50 between all factions. For example, it felt to me like Natfka’s army would be quicker to strike than mine, and that I should have been at a slight disadvantage in that regard. Maybe that will be introduced eventually, because the game support seems good about refining the rules, if you check out their forum.
Overall the model quality is inspired, and if the setting and aesthetic appeals to you you’ll likely find a faction or sub faction that you’d be keen to collect. As is the case with many miniature games, however, some of the range is a bit older and is plainly shown up by more recently produced models. The Forsaken range in particular suffers in this regard.
I find myself lingering on certain moments from our two games we got through and I’ve realized that this game proved one of the more memorable gaming sessions I’ve had in a while, which is the surest sign of a quality design. I can’t say I need another skirmish game in my life right now, but I can say I want this one. That’s the nice thing about skirmish games; pick up a few models and you’re ready to go.
http://dark-age.com