I recently sold several older games to Noble Knight games for online store credit.
My first use of this credit was for Jason Glover’s Iron Helm, which he sells through Game Crafter. So it ain’t cheap. But the version I got at Noble Knight was mint, unpunched and a bit cheaper than through Game Crafter. Better yet, I was able to use my credit so no actual cash involved.
I also picked up a player mat and five booster pack expansions. Two were Adventure Packs, one Level 2 and the other Level 3. Also a booster pack for the base game with cards for new skills, loot, potions, etc. and the “Fanny Pack” – a booster pack full of fan-created content. The final pack was a set of alternative dungeon cards.
I’d never played Iron Helm before. Now I have to say: this is the perfect game for me. I love dungeon crawls, but just don’t have the time for huge sprawling epics (and I’ve owned a few). I can fit Iron Helm on my little tray table, so wife and I can watch a show while I play. The game has mid-level complexity, not too simple, but not overly crunchy. I can play one-off dungeon crawls in less than an hour, and then string three delves into a “campaign” with the tougher adventure packs. The expansion content keeps it interesting.
So this is the perfect ‘size’ for me in table presence, complexity, and play time. I win about a third of my games, and even the ones I lose, I’m able to get to the boss battle at the end. The victories have all been close, and genuinely exciting.
My most recent try was the Level 2 adventure Throne of Embers, with Moliclan as the hero. I entered the boss battle struggling with poison, low on energy but with a good amount of health. The boss Naga has 21 HP and deals 2 poison along with damage. I only had four energy (which are needed to attack). He hit me first with 8 damage, which was a decent hit but survivable. But I realized though that I needed to take him out in one hit. Because one more strike from Naga and my poison count would probably exceed my remaining health, which would be fatal.
So I needed to hit for 21 in one strike. First, I used 3 energy to roll 3 dice. That is usually the maximum you can roll in one attack, but my Beserk skill allows me to add one more die roll at a cost of 2 health. I committed to doing that, since it was literally all or nothing. My first three hit dice totaled 10, not great. But one of the dice came up as 5, so my primary weapon, Olum’s Slayer, gave me an extra 3 damage (rolls of 5 or 6 give +3 against enemies weak to fire, which the Naga was). Also, my Dual Wield skill gives me +2 damage when holding a dagger in my other hand, which I was. That brings my hit total to 15.
15 is still not 21. This meant to defeat the Naga, I needed to roll a 6 with the extra die allowed by my Beserk skill. Otherwise, goodbye, good night.
And I rolled a six. Naga be dead. Damn, that felt good. Now, on to the Level 3 adventure, Malicia’s Refuge.
(I realized later that for this adventure pack, I was supposed to face the boss that comes with the pack, not one from the base game, as Naga was. Still, a boss is a boss and I consider this a solid victory. I also realized that a 5 would have won the game for me, not just the 6 that I rolled, because my weapon gives plus 3 to a 5 or 6 since Naga is weak to fire).
But also check out the Aimed Attacks. You can use “Attack from Above” to lower the defense by 1 and use the bow’s Critical Attack to roll an additional die. With a little luck and some tactics, you can deal damage to the rat this way with Anna. These are exactly the tricks you need to learn in the game .
