War of The Worlds: The New Wave, Brown

H.G. Wells The War of the Worlds is one of my favorite books that I’ve ever read. Why it took 123 years for there to be a board game that delivers and envelops the war torn world from the book is beyond me, but it is a welcome addition to my gaming shelf.In this 2 player deck building game you will choose between defending humanity or trying to destroy it. The Martians are back after their initial defeat which occurred in the book, and the army forces of the United Kingdom are posed to fight this “New Wave” of alien forces and once again defend against them.I love this game for a lot of reasons, one of course being the theme, but another which will sound odd is how amazingly unbalanced it is….in a very balanced way. Each player is building their own deck throughout the game, picking and choosing which cards to discard for more energy or money to build up their fighting power. The tactics of each side are so different that you see and feel the power struggle. The alien forces are stronger; they generate power very quickly and have lots of offensive powers. The exact opposite is true of the human army; they generate funds less quickly but have powerful defensive and movement abilities. This is where the appreciated unbalance comes in, of course Alien forces should be more powerful they are shooting laser beams and humans are just doing the best they can with the limited technology they have. This power difference is very true to the theme and I really enjoy that aspect of this game.Each player also has a different winning condition. Humans need only deal 30 damage to the Martians to force a retreat, whereas the aliens must eliminate 30 human civilian targets which can move all over the game board. This is where their better movement abilities shine, a great tactic is to move a few troops up and around the main alien force and then start dealing damage the alien buildings. Splitting their numbers works well if you play it right. In contrast when playing the alien forces, building up your energy supply quickly and then playing your second UFO or your 2 other Tripods can make easy work of any pesky humans trying to sneak around the board.Overall this is a very challenging 2 player game which I enjoy a lot. It will take a few games to start really learning strategies and tactics, those of course can be totally defeated by an equally competent player who can adapt and change their own way of playing to counteract what you’re trying. Most all games will be nail biters coming down to each side being within a few points of one another at the end, which makes for very exciting game-play. Games are also short in length so you can quickly reset the board, shuffle your cards and play again.If you look for and enjoy 2 player games like we do give this one a try and if you do, please enjoy the game!

I bought this as a Father's Day gift for my dad. He is a sci fi nut and has been delighted with the game. He liked it so well that he went and bought one of the expansions the week he got it. My mom, who is not generally into sci fi or what she calls "mega games", was even excited to play it after it arrived. Thanks to the makers for scoring me brownie points with my parents!

Bought this and was looking forward to playing. Upon opening the new sealed box.....all human buildings, alien buildings, tokens, army standers, navy standers, tripods and UFOs were MISSING!!!! Needless to say this will be returned Monday and now highly doubtful will try again.

When are they going to make a version of this game matching the Martians against the greatest army in the world at that time. Tactically, technologically and in terms of training the German army was the best. It would be one titanic conflict and I think the Germans could stand a 50/50 chance of winning.

Great quality, not to hard to learn

One of the best fast board games out there, either side is very intense if you like this kinda thing

I bought War of the World's, and it's missing the following pieces: 11 human building tokens, 2 human navy standees, 3 human army standees, 13 alien building and influence tokens, 2 alien ufo standees, and 3 alien tripod standees. The two little bags, which I assume those pieces should be in, were empty. The box was shrink-wrapped, so I assume this was a manufacturing error.

At current price tag, no-brainer purchase.I'm an avid board gamer, with many, many game purchases and plays. This is a gem of a game, though for only 2 players.I do admit that I purchased the Playmat for this game too, and it's the best I've ever had the pleasure of playing on. (It's also the largest playmat)The game is simple to learn, simple to get into, and plays quickly. Like around an hour, with some minor thinking involved.As far as game balance, I thought one side was inherently stronger than the others, because of the seemingly easy victory they seemed to obtain. But, then, very next game, is was the other side that had an easier path to victory. So perhaps, it boils down to who can create best deck managed hand of cards, with the randomizing factor being when certain cards show up.Heck, I probably just have said the most important review factor - the game is FUN!