BattleLore: Command

Review after playing the first couple of missions:
The gameplay is solid, it keeps the feel and tactics of the board game. The campaign is promising, I look forward to playing more of it. The tutorial is OK, it should teach newcomers to Battlelore (and other games using the same system) the basics.
The interface, camera and controls are decent. Barely. It's impossible to miss the fact that this is an IOS/Android game that has been ported to pc. The camera zooms around the battlefield, sometimes making it hard to keep track of what is going on. I really hope we get an update with an option for a static overhead camera, this would be much better suited for pc screens.
A marginal thumbs up as it is now, could become a glowing recommendation with a few tweaks to the interface.

Get ready for a completely biased review!
I'm a board gamer at heart. I was following BattleLore Second Edition on Fantasy Flight Games' website since it was first announced and picked it up from my FLGS (friendly local game store) as soon as it was available. It is a fantastic game! One of the things that I love is that the units and factions are consistent with other games set in this Terrinoth universe, like Runewars and Rune Age. All three are great games!
Unfortunately, it's hard to find other people to play the board game with. I had been wanting to make a Vassal mod for it for a while, but never got around to it. And then ... FFG announced the digital version! Now I can finally play other people!
Okay, so all of that was background on who I am in relation to this game and why I like it. Unfortunately, it's kinda failing in the one thing I was excited about: multiplayer. Not that the multiplayer mode doesn't work, but that there still seem to be very few people on when I'm on. Realistically, all that means is that I need to reach out to others in the community and schedule a time to play instead of just hoping we're all on at the same time.
However, I was able to play against my brother using this game and that was phenomenally fun! So I think the potential for great multiplayer games is there, we just need more people playing!
One thing that makes this game interesting is the fact that it is a port of a board game. Board games tend to be simpler than video games because humans are responsible for all the upkeep so there can't be too much going on lest you make the games take too long. Unfortunately, the digital version takes that even farther. In addition to keeping track of all of your dice rolls for you, many of the abilities have been altered. Basically, abilities from dice that you have an option of triggering in the board game version are mandatory in the digital version.
Two examples: 1) Blood Harvesters have a 1/6 chance to deal one damage to themselves to cause one damage to the target, but while you can choose not to activate that in the board game (for instance, if it will kill your Blood Harvester), it is automatically activated in the digital version; 2) when a Poisoned unit is attacked in the board game, the attacker may commit any lore results rolled to deal damage to the poisoned unit, but in the app, there is no choice, even if your attack only generated a single lore and youd rather save it for lore cards.
Other changes include the Greyhaven Battlemages whose shield ability is no longer tied to combat results but to movement (which makes them too powerful, in my opinion).
But the changes are not all bad. For the app, they have streamlined the command card mechanic so that you have a small pool of cards you can refresh rather than drawing from a deck. This gives you more strategic control over your characters compared to the random draw of the board game. (Although I prefer the randomness of the board game with the deeper tactics of unit abilities.)
The graphics for this game are great! I mean, I only paid $10 for it and for that it's fine. Because the alternative is to pay $80 for the board game that comes with unpainted miniatures.
Speaking of the board game's core set, the units available is one screaming difference between the physical and digital versions. In the core set, you get a single legend unit for each team. With a 50-gold game, you could muster 6 of them, but since there is only one in the core set for each side, to get 6 for a single faction requires almost $500! For $10, you can field any combination of units you desire. That's quite a treat to me! Of course, that only matters in multiplayer missions, not in the campaign.
But one thing I LOVE about multiplayer is that I have the option of playing against the CPU in multiplayer battles. Why is this huge for me? Because I am an Uthuk Y'llan fan! :Uthuk: You see, the campaign is played from the point of view of the Daqan Lords (the humans) and you fight against the Uthuk Y'llan. I, however, love the Uthuk Y'llan, so I'm glad there is a way for me to play solo with my favorite faction. Good job, FFG!
The campaign was actually quite fun, for me. It is very scenario-driven, which makes things very interesting.
I'm done rambling. Hopefully I've answered some questions others have not. But the point is htat I LOVE this game and I highly recommend it! (And the board game, too!)

Being new to Battlelore I was concerned that the digital version would leave me grasping at straws as some games do when they assume you've played through the tabletop version. I'm glad to see that the tutorial is ample enough to get me into the game. The core game seems to be a different experience from the tabletop version and is a much more strategic version if my reading of the rules is correct.
The single player campaign is excellent and starts you out with a basic army that gains additional troops and new unit types as you progress. I haven't progressed very far but there seems to be some branches that let you pick a misson for extra archers or extra guards which I prefer because it means I can pick a playstyle that best fits how I want to play.

I love BattleLore since back when it was Days of Wonder's property. Naturally I picked up FFG's version when they redesigned it to fit in with the Runebound universe. While the switch from DoW to FFG did have it's ups and downs I do to this day love what they did with it.
Now it's on computer, and I do in fact recommend it. If you've played the board game you'll be instantly familiar with the mechanics....except for them altering the Lore phase in ways that I don't really see as needed. I'd like the option to actually take more Lore instead of a card. Seriously.
If you're unfamiliar with the board game, fear not. The learning curve is not too steep. Many units are pretty strait forward in their use and after a little bit of practice manuevering becomes pretty second nature.
Of course, you will be praying to the mighty and fickle gods of RNG (Random Number Generator) since all attacks are dealt with dice rolling. If you're not a fan of having well laid plans ruined by bad rolls, you *will* find this game frustrating.
So yeah, overall I'm satisfied with the purchase. I can turn it on, play a few matches and forget about it for a little while. I'd like to see more DLC, considering the board game has more units for both factions and an entire Undead faction as well. There's plenty to add, but what you get for $10 is pretty good, IMO.
Of course, there's nothing wrong with waiting for a sale.

Very nice game, although battle system at first looks overly complex and not intuitive to learn (as for me at leaast). You just need to spend few rounds to understand and be comfortable with it.
Principles are very Age Of Fear-like - there are just few rules, some randomness, but complexity and depth mainly comes from their interactions.
They have global-skill system (called lores), that are given randomly so it's a little but luck-dependent. But, because battles are fast, it works quite well :-)
Turns are quite fast, but there is lots of depth and ways how to play.
It's Early Relase and there is one campaign, so it's only like 6-7 hours, but they are hopefully doing another one. There is also DLC, but as of today it does not offer much (3 new units and few maps).
IMHO, definitely worth a try. Even for full price (10 USD) it is a good deal.

fun. simple, good looking and cheap - you will only get a few hours worth of play from this, and the online multiplayer community doesn't exsist - but it is still a fun game and you can always play the CPU.

The amount of time I have spent playing this game is embarrassing. Very good implementation.