Arcs: The Blighted Reach Expansion Review - Complex, Engaging, & Innovative

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Non board game related comment, sorry: Hi all, we are massive Taylor Swift fans, and were due to see her perform two nights in Vienna, which was cancelled due to a planned terrorist attack. There are only a few dates left on the tour in North America and second hand tickets cost thousands of dollars. If you, or anyone you know ends up having to sell their tickets, please consider directing them our way as it would mean the world to us. Happy to pay over face value! Sorry for the interruption to your board game content!

[@HelderP83]

Your reviews are getting better and better: good structure, well explained, interesting opinions and a good back and forth between you two. Keep up the great work! thank you for your content.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thank you so much for the support! Makes the content worth it!

[@saviloic]

Great review, well laid out, structured and very much objective, congratulations for the great content you create

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thank you so much! The support means everything!

[@PersonMan000]

You guys being so level-headed with pros and cons, is such a breath of fresh air after wading through so much hype for this game.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Glad you enjoy! Always great to hear that.

[@WalkingMiracle96]

totally agree!

[@gutembergjunior3538]

Thank you tremendously for this honest, clean review.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thanks for supporting us by watching!

[@Rafaellgs]

Very good review and fair points. I'm 3 campaigns over (and many base games) and on each campaing, I understand different new parts of the expansion. Arcs is not a one-session game, definitelly. Like the negotiation step, I had many cases in campaings where we just skip them immediately but other times it was very benefitial to players, including me, to exchange peaces. And the C fates are very strong indeed, if you let them play "alone". Without any player countering them, these fates will most probably win, in my experience. It reminds me a lot of Root on the way the the table needs to manage the winning faction.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thank you! Appreciate you sharing your campaign experiences!

[@analog_arnie]

I found the best negotiation in arcs usually means negotiating around stopping a run away leader. Red will give me a few trophies, which are scoring him nothing, to make it so I the loser win Warlord, and so the player in the lead only gets second instead of first. I also found that certain positions are better for certain fates than others. One act I needed more ships in gates, so I traded some ships that were at planets for ships at gates. Because it was more helpful for my fate. Simple things like that. These are really the only two circumstances I see trade happening. Also, no need to memorize/go through the checklist of all the things you can trade every summit. The only thing you can’t swap is guild/lore cards in front of you. If everyone remembers that, then they’re good. That being said there were plenty of summits that weren’t called at all, and plenty of summits where no one negotiated at all. So I still don’t think this mechanic makes it a “negotiation” game. It’s no John Company (also my favorite game), but I do think you guys are missing out on some potential here. I’m sure there’s going to be many saying similar, sorry to be just one more haha

[@toon_tabletop]

Great review guys ! I've been playing the base game and enjoying it a lot. My first Cole Wehrle. I reaaally like the look of John Company - but deep down I know it will have too much shelf-time! Do you think the campaign mode spoils the base game a little for you now ? Or do you still see yourselves playing it if the situation is right like not having the time or appetite for the big campaign ?!

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thank you! As we alluded to in the review, they are almost different games, so you probably have the feel at them for different times. I think I'd be more than happy to play the base game and introduce it to people, but the campaign is the fuller experience that I'd rather play if I had the group and the time.

[@sammor9]

I think the magnate requires you to trade, so some fates definitely need more trading and negotiation.

[@jeremyruble9350]

I suspect that negotiations could have helped with the 17 point lead in the C fate. Was there any path where a trade could have kneecapped that lead?

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Well there's probably always something you could have done different, but I don't believe so in this case. It was a result of being the admiral for 2 acts and having the first regent. On top of that, I had rogue admirals and could use imperial ships as my own. Combine that with a control or taxing C fate and I was able to blitz the objective in chapter 1 before the others could react.

[@AndersFugl]

@@BoardOfItReviews can you go straight from an A fate to a C fate? I thought you would have to work or rather loose yourself down from A to B and then C?

[@BoardOfItReviews]

@@AndersFugl If you take an A fate through the first two acts and fail during act 2, you get a C fate.

[@jacobi2393]

Summits: "we can trade anything but cards". That's all you really need to know. Don't think you generally need to rehash any of that each time it comes up. "Anyone want to trade?" is generally sufficient I should have thought

[@BoardOfItReviews]

@@jacobi2393 That's not quite true though - there are numerous subrules to trading. Can we trade these buildings? No, there are loyal ships present. What about this one? No, it's my last starport. I'll give you two ships for one there. No, you can only trade ships 1 to 1, etc. etc. I think the game would flow better if it was as you said.

[@user-cw4zj6kc8u]

Been wanting to play the campaign, I just have been cut off from my gaming group for a month because of travel and my family just doesn't like Cole Wehrle games. Really hoping my gaming group likes Arcs because otherwise I might just have to play the campaign solo and make it up as I go. T_T

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Not to scare you but liking Arcs and liking the campaign are very different things...it also doesn't bode well they they don't like Cole Wehrle to begin with, as Arcs may be palatable but the campaign defo won't as it is full Wehrle. Wish you the best of luck though, really hope you get to play!

[@user-cw4zj6kc8u]

@@BoardOfItReviews Hehe for sure. I ended up just playing the campaign by myself. Just finished Act 2 and I love it. Definitely make it way heavier but it's amazing to watch the little story arcs unfold. Started with Steward and Partisan in Act 1. Both failing their objective and becoming the Warden and Planet Breaker in Act 2. In which the empire fell as the Warden made claims to royalty and bringing about feudal seats and fiefs. The Planet Breaker became a Flagship and searched the Reach for Hammer Fragments in order to become a super weapon to break whole planets. Of which the warden rallied his fleet to defend the planet and saved it from destruction. Thus in Act 3 the Warden will continue to spread his feudal power while the Planet Breaker will become the Redeemer. Can't wait to see how it finished. :)

[@nin_4_me58]

Were you doing a 2 player campaign? That’s tougher for some of it to work. We have only played 4 player campaigns.

[@nin_4_me58]

Great comparison of Blighted Reach to Oath!

[@nin_4_me58]

2 player Arcs is Arcs but it can go sideways more than 3 or 4 player Arcs. You guys play 2 player Root?

[@nin_4_me58]

Really like you videos! Thanks for making them!

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Nope!

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thank you!

[@j_atkinson]

You lost me at that it doesn't feel like a campaign game but then go into explain details that are directly related to what constitutes a campaign... things carry over from previous game that affect the next game like the board state and you mentioned tableau as well as opposed to resetting everything between games (not campaign). I think you need to define what you mean by campaign in this context. Overall great review going into all the details with the pros and cons.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

I see what you mean but I would argue many campaign games are scenario based (Gloomhaven, Oathsworn, Imperial Assault) or the board state/map changes significantly each game based on the outcome of a game (Pandemic/ticket to ride legacy). In Arcs, practically nothing changes on the board in terms of the player state, so it feels far more like a new round than a new stage of a campaign. Hope that clarifies!

[@manhogbear1086]

Arcs: the BLOATED reach

[@shadowbanned4606]

You can not have more than 100% of the game. "Expansion" what scam artists are calling it here. It is actually artificially cut content scam which produces way more waste than if it was packed 100% of the game.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Disagree completely, I think many people won't want to play the expansion who love the base game. They also both feel very different in play.

[@TheCroBrosChannel]

This is one of the most L takes I've ever seen