So with Loy unable to make it last night, and Andrew teaching Scott how to play his new Malifaux crew (non-starter Ramos crew), I sat down with Ilan who taught me how to play MERCS, which is my next temptation. And the first one that I’m talking about that I have already played. Once. Last night.
When the models for this game were coming out before there was a game, how could I not be impressed? The style and poses are just awesome, similar to Infinity. When the game came out, with more models, even better. And a then-local guy was into the game, and his blog had some impressive shots of his models. So it all looked good. Even the card-measurement mechanic was a little different. But, even though I wanted to try it and loved the models, I didn’t give MERCS the time of day.
Thankfully this low-cost-because-there-are-only-6-models game is popular enough that I can find someone to show me how it is. Like Ilan, who was free last night to do so. He was supposed to teach Andrew, but he wasn’t available until later, so I learned the game instead.
I played as the CCC, the Yellow Jackets, which is one of the two I like. The other being the FCC. We played on a cool Middle East-themed board, possibly Meeplemart’s best with all of the Miniature Building Authority terrain on it. I like that you only need a 2×3 area to play on. Much more space-saving than 6×4!
The early turns saw some blood shed on either side as we both learned the game (oh yeah, Ilan was new to the game too, although he had read the rules thoroughly). I ended up getting the first kill, taking out his Assault Leader. Soon I had dropped his Sniper, Mechanic (to the flames of my Incinerator) and Medic, only having lost my Heavy in the process. It was down to his Behemoth, who was not easy to kill, at all. If not for the high strength of my Sniper and the courage of my Incinerator, I don’t know if I’d be able to take him down.
So, I enjoyed the game. I don’t much care for the card-measure-movement thing, as it can get awkward when your guys are near terrain. But I do like the simple rolls for the Firing Number, with a bunch of easy-to-remember modifiers. The random initiative is cool too. The models, of course, look amazing.
Overall, a good game, so…
The verdict? Maybe. Not right now, but quite possibly in the future. The models would be the biggest reason to get into MERCS, so maybe when I have nothing else that I’m eager to paint.
Thanks to Ilan for showing me the ropes. I do hope I can get another game of this in at some point.
Thanks for reading.
