After years of teasers, previews, and demos at shows, the boardgame Leviathans has finally released. For those of you who haven’t been following this game, it is a boardgame featuring flying warships set in an alternate history pre-WW I era. Essentially, the game supposes that instead of naval warfare being changed by the appearance of all big-gun battleships, it was instead revolutionized by the development of ships that can also fly. What’s not to like?
Impressions
I must admit that I wasn’t following this game too closely until a recent episode of the D6 Generation reviewed it. Once I listened to their run-down, I immediately pre-ordered a copy! It arrived last week and I was immediately struck by the sheer size and weight of the box; this is one densely packed game. As the D6G review mentioned, a considerable amount of material included with the game does nothing to directly support playing the game itself, but rather serve to establish the background of the game’s setting. This may be a turn-off for some, but being a naval history geek I definitely appreciate the amount of thought and effort that clearly went into fleshing out the details of why these ships were built, what they have accomplished, and why they are able to fly.
So far, I’ve only been able to play through the quick-start rules, but I was very impressed by the experience. The game clearly takes into consideration a number of variables, including range, crew ability, target aspect, and the like, into the shooting mechanics, which makes it quite a bit more detailed than some of the other naval games I usually play, such as Dystopian Wars. However, the way the game handles each of these elements prevented it from feeling like it was bogging down in too many details, which was nice.
Once I’ve gotten a few more games in, I am definitely going to revisit this game for a full review! In the meantime, if you at all like WW I naval history and/or steampunk, this game is well worth a look!
