| Reviewer | Reviewed On | Publisher | Designer | Published In | Rating |
| January 26, 2004 | Fantasy Flight Games | Darrell Hardy and Barry Stockinger | 2003 | 7 |
| Buy It Now | More Info |
So is Wreckage one of these fun games? The answer is that if you like miniature games at all, then Wreckage is your cup of tea. Wreckage is basically a miniature car game, disguised as a small board game. The rules are simpler than your basic miniature game, and I think are fun, simple, and easy. The same rage that erupts in miniature games can rear its ugly head here (“you moved that 1/8 cm too far!”, “I did not!”, etc.), but overall, Wreckage is a fun-filled, quick blast, and one where a victory is quite satisfying.
The goal in Wreckage is similar to the Mad Max movies, with each player trying (for some reason) to destroy the vehicles of the other players. Each player in Wreckage takes one of four vehicle counters provided in the box (each vehicle counter is double-sided, and shows two different vehicles with two different sets of statistics.) The vehicles have three numbers on them, denoting acceleration, handling, and structure points for that vehicle. Each player will then, in turn order, sort through a deck of upgrade cards, choosing three to modify their vehicle. These upgrade cards include a variety of weapons, as well as other equipment, such as armor plates or nitro. Each player then takes a speedometer, and chooses secretly a speed from 0 to 4. Players take a deck of steering cards, customized for their vehicle, and then the board is set up. The cars, obstacles, gas cans, and other terrain are placed on the board according to a pre-determined setup shown in the rulebook. (Of course, after players become comfortable with the game, any setup can be used, as long as all players agree.) A deck of damage cards is shuffled and placed near the board. Play of the game begins, happening in several rounds. Each round is made up of two steps.
In the first step, the Planning step, players look through their steering cards and choose two that they are going to use in that round. They then place them face down in front of themselves in the order that they are going to play them. After this, the Steering step occurs. Players determine which player goes first by checking the respective speeds of each car – with the fastest car going first, etc. If two or more cars are going the same speed, then the car with the fastest acceleration goes first. The first player to go flips over their top steering card, and follows the instructions on it. These cards allow a variety of things:
- Turn left, up to 45 degrees. A clever tile piece allows this to be done with some accuracy.
- Turn right, up to 45 degrees.
- Accelerate, increasing your vehicles speed as many levels as the car’s acceleration stat, or fewer.
- Decelerate, using the same rules.
Each car also has two unique steering cards, which allow a variety of things, from jumping, to swerving, to crushing, etc. After following the action on the card, the player moves their car forward an amount of car lengths equal to the car’s speed (a ruler is provided). If the car hits an obstacle or another car, collision damage is taken. This is resolved by the player drawing cards from the damage deck equal to their speed.
The damage deck is filled with cards that denote one, two, or three hits on them. Some of them also cause the player’s car to spinout, take a critical hit, etc. The player takes damage chips equal to the amount of hits they receive and place them on their speedometer. If the amount of hits equals or exceeds their structure stat, the car is dead, and the player is eliminated. After a player moves, if they do not hit anything – they may fire one of their weapons. Each weapon has either short or long range, and an amount of damage cards that are turned over by the player whose car is hit. Most weapons can only fire forward, but some can shoot in all directions. If another car is in range, the player can fire their weapon, and the other player must take damage equal to the hits shown on the cards turned over. However, they first subtract their handling stat from the hits they received – which can often cause them to receive no damage.
After all players have gone, another steering step occurs, using the second card. The steering card: Duplicate, can be used this round – duplicating the steering card used the first round. If, when moving in either round, a player’s car comes in contact with a gas can, they remove it from the board and place it in front of them. If a player’s car is destroyed, they place the gas cans they have collected on the board where they died, and remove their car. The first player to collect five gas cans, and/or destroy all the other cars, is the winner!
(There are other rules regarding reverse, special weapons, hairpin turns, etc. – all minor details)
Some comments on the game…
1) Components: Fantastic artwork is all over this game, from the box to the tokens, to the cards. All components in the game are language- independent, and contain symbols that are usually easy to figure out, but at first need to be looked up by new players. (This is very similar to Drakon, Cave Troll, etc.) Everything is very clearly denoted, however, and the markers for moving the car, turning the car, and shooting are really nice. Having predetermined ranges for everything is nice, rather than having to use tape measure to figure out if something is in range, etc. All the tokens of the game, including the cars, are of high quality, and everything is double-sided, often having a different feature on the back, making boards more varied. All the components fit nicely in the Silver Line’s typically small, colorful, sturdy box.
2) Rules: The rules are the longest I’ve seen for any of the Silver Line (which means they were five pages long. Most of the rules were explaining the special symbols on weapons and other cards. I wish, like in Drakon, that FFG would provide a reference card for things such as this. But the game was really easy to learn and play. After playing miniature games such as Warhammer 40K with its huge rulebooks, this was a simplistic snap to learn how to play. Everyone I taught the game to picked it up quickly, and youth were probably a little quicker to catch on than the adults.
3) Cheating and Arguing: As with all miniature games, cheating is easy to do – and it’s something I’ve always despised about these games. It’s easy to turn the car 46 degrees, or move it just a little farther when nobody’s looking. And then the arguments! “You can’t do that!”, “I didn’t hit the wall!”, etc. Fortunately, both cheating and arguing are massively less pronounced in this game than in most miniature games, thus making this game palpable.
4) Theme and Fun Factor: This game’s theme, which is moving around and blowing other cars up, is perfect. The mechanics capture it perfectly, and because of everybody’s love of destruction – the game is a rollicking good time to play. Unless, of course, it’s your car that gets ganged up on by the others, then the game can be rather frustrating. The damage deck is a really nice addition, and while it’s not really much different than using dice and a chart, it adds a lot of fun to the game.
5) Custom courses: Maybe we are all bad drivers, but collisions were happening all the time in the games I played. And the extra obstacles included with the game cause even more damage! But hey, if you are a masochist, than add all these obstacles, and have fun!
6) Strategy and Tactics: Knowing when to play what card is important, of course. But I think customizing your car to take advantage of its stats is important, also. (There’s the slow tank-like car, the speedy biker, etc.) There is, to my knowledge, no unbeatable combo of cards – this is good – but there are combos that are probably better than others depending on which car you get. I really enjoy this aspect of the game, and the fact that the cars are different each game makes the game that much more fun.
I really enjoyed the game, and I’ll pull it out anytime. If you are looking for a quiet, strategic Eurogame, than this one isn’t for you. If, however, you like miniature games at all, and don’t mind a quick (about thirty minutes), fun, shoot-em-up game – this one is right up your alley. Yells, laughs, muffled groans, and other noises emanate from the players during this game – it certainly isn’t your quiet abstract strategy game. But we didn’t expect it, and didn’t want it. When I have four players together (or even three) who just want to kill, kill, kill – but with an ounce of tactics and strategy, this is a fantastic choice to pull off the shelf.
Tom Vasel
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