KR Review #81: Tahron

It seems that the impossible might finally become possible! Wow, is it Christmas? Yes, it is!

When PoliganToys first geared up for Key Raiders, there were two items that I immediately started thinking about: the board game that originally inspired this universe and a playset for the toys. The board game could be relatively easy, but the playset seemed impossible. I was reminded again and again of the obstacles: it would be too complicated, too big, too expensive.

A bit more than four years after writing my first review of a KR figure prototype, both the game and the first playset are finally a reality, at least in prototype form. The process to combine them in a single item and to make it not obnoxiously large was definitely complicated. And if it's ever released, it will be expensive. But, on the whole, it will be worth it.

In a nutshell, the Tahron playset is the largest KR item ever to be produced by PoliganToys and can be used for playing the Key Raiders Game, a two-player strategy game played with staction figures and magnetic bricks on a board fitted with two vertical walls. The game's mechanic involves hand management, grid movement and pattern recognition, and its aim is to open a gateway in the opponent’s multiversal wall. The two players try to reach that goal by defeating each other during several battles and fights, in order to remove as many bricks as possible from each other’s wall.

Details

Name: Tahron

Subtitle: mystical land of magic and science

Classification: area of land

Home: Tahron

Affiliation: shared by Theriom, Destructomorph, Rexodon and Spektrosaur

Rank: theatre of war.

Description

The playset/board game features:

• 45 tokens for the game

• A gameboard/battleground scenery

• Two multiversal walls with 100 magnetic bricks (50 gold and 50 silver)

• Four towers that can be placed at the four corners of the gameboard for being used with the KR action figures

• Four additional ramps and countless accessories for the towers

• Three chips that are shaped and coloured like Antikythron crystals

• A six-sided die.

I'm going to describe all these components separately.

Tokens

Each token is composed of a hollow cylindrical grey-brown base and a double mini staction figure - the latter can be reversed and half-inserted into the former, in order to show, in accordance with the progress of the game, either a generic warrior piece (face down token) or a specific one (face up token). The cylindrical base bears a pointer, which is used to indicate the player who owns the piece. The properties of each specific warrior, which are summarised in the table below, are: class (22 Gold pieces, 22 Silver pieces and one Aether piece), a special ability or limitation (only carried by some pieces), faction (11 Theriom pieces, 11 Destructomorph pieces, 11 Rexodon pieces, 11 Spektrosaur pieces and one Neutral piece), agility (a style of moving/capturing similarly to chess pieces – 24 Riders, 12 Leapers and 8 Jumpers) and strength (a numerical value between 1 and 13 or, in one case, equal to 100)

List of game pieces and their properties.

Gameboard

The gameboard/battleground scenery has 100 alternated gold and silver step-stones arranged in a 10-by-10 grid. The 10 rows (or ranks) are denoted with numbers 1 to 10, while the 10 columns (or files) are denoted with letters a to j. The board is divided into two main zones: a Gold Zone and a Silver Zone. In the Gold Zone, rank 1 is called Trench, rank 2 becomes elevated and sustained by a removable Multiversal Wall, rank 3 is called Second Line, rank 4 is called Frontline and rank 5 is called Battlefield; in the Silver Zone, from rank 10 to 6, the nomenclature is identical. The side of the board nearest to file “a” presents a Declaration Area and a Reinforcement Area, while the opposite side presents a Round Area.

Multiversal Walls

Each wall is modelled after the Great Wall of China, and carries a row of 10 alternated gold and silver step-stones on the top as well as 50 removable bricks arranged in a 10-by-5 grid on the front. Each brick bears a symbol related to the KR mythos.

Theriom City Tower (Theriom)

Exterior: this red&gold tower is modelled after Beijing's Forbidden City. There are two gargoyle-like stone statues standing in front of a majestic opening wooden gate ornamented with the Theriom symbol (i.e., a seven-pointed golden star with the two side points elongated); each statue resembles a sitting minotaur/centaur creature with bat wings and a lion head on the back and chest of its humanoid upper body, and has moving head, arms and tail

Interior: a metal sculpture of a chimeric creature (similar to those outside) on a stone pedestal can be positioned on the lower, bricky level and can split open to showcase the three enchanted helmets (which came with Foundation Elykta and are not included with this set). An oval holographic conference table with a map of Tahron can be placed in the council room on the upper level, where scenes related to Tahron mythology/history have been frescoed on the wall and ceiling; the wall also has a holder to store the four halberds in a criss-crossed way, and an escape door that leads to an outside balcony. A Combat Training Robot action figure is also included and can be connected to a swivelling charging unit in the lower level. For those who might have forgotten, at the beginning of the sixth comic issue of the Foundation series, Tir-Hing is shown to struggle with defeating a Combat Training unit and has to be saved by his Troopers. This robot is normally in an R2D2-like diminutive droid form, which is the 5-inch tall version coming with this set. Coloured metallic light-blue, gold and silver, it rolls on two legs and features a two-side body with alternate appearances, so the figure can be turned to be displayed to one's liking. The pivoting domed head (which is ball jointed and interchangeable with other figures) utilises a pair of photo-receptors (a single black camera lens on one side and a more complex bronze telephoto lens on the other side); the bin-shaped torso bears a sort of conical drill bit at the bottom and two symbols on the front (a gold Theriom emblem on one side and a light-blue glowing disc on the other side); the swivelling shoulder articulation joints at the top of the legs hold four fully articulated mechanical arms (two with claws that grasp an axe and a shield on one side, and two with rotating mace and blade attachments on the other side); finally the feet have pairs of motorised all-terrain wheels on one side and small rocket boosters on the other side. Hopefully, one day we'll also get the much cooler expanded form.

Dekropolis Tower (Destructomorph)

Exterior: this metallic light-blue&pearlescent white tower represents the central building of the five-tower decommissioned shipyard seen in the comics. The base features a flooded detention basin, while the front of the building has an opening overhead gate (which, when closed, resembles a broad ladder staircase ascending to the upper level) and two swinging walls that reveal retractable pivoting laser cannons with seats and flip-up canopies (these are removable and can be used as one-man aerial assault vehicles). The upper level shows an open structure reminiscent of a launch bay, flanked by two sculpted doors and surmounted by an elliptical observation window. The window has been modified by Deptilion by adding some railings, which make it appear almost like an insect eye from a distance. A removable turret on top of the domed roof can work as an escape pod that seats one figure in a lying position

Interior: the lower level is used as a prison and has two giant chains, which are made of plastic and are connected to a flat disk attached to the ground (almost any figure can be cuffed to these shackles). The floor with the attached chains can be lifted to reveal a magma chamber inhabited by a horrifying worm-like, star-nosed creature with a number of fleshy, beady-eyed radiating tentacles around its monstrous snout (the monster emerging from the red hot magma is a separate piece and has a ball jointed head). The upper level looks like a technological laboratory and shows, alongside a Destructomorph emblem (i.e., a square-shaped blueish spider whose back slightly resembles a demoniac face, partly chiselled on a shield above the observation window and partly wrapped around its frame), many sculpted details such as pivoting control panels, pipes and cables, while a secret compartment made to slide horizontally in and out of the ceiling/floor between the lower and upper levels allows for hiding Deptilion's halberd.

Rokang Tar Tower (Rexodon)

Exterior: this dark-bronze&steel building, which is modelled after the ogival, redented towers of Angkor Wat, is the tallest of the four towers and the one that has most features. However, apart from a curved stairway that leads to a sort of rose window displaying the Rexodon symbol (i.e., a red reptile skull), there's not much going on outside

Interior: there are four floors - the base (or foundation), two mid-levels and a top level. The base has a dungeon with a sculpted floor grate, an angular metal cage and an opening door, to hold one prisoner. The lower mid-level has a throne, which fits Bi-Harr's figure and is suspended from the ceiling, and a round vault-like entrance door hinged on the wall (which is the inner side of the rose window and has a bird-like gargoyle on top of the inner frame). The upper mid-level has a computer console (with images on the screen that can change by turning a dial) mounted on the wall as well as a slot through which the top of the throne fits; a circular piece of plastic locks the throne in place and can be concealed by a chair that allows a figure (for example Loghar) to sit at the computer. The throne can be moved by turning the circular piece around, allowing a trap door (which appears like a low-rise stairway climbing towards the throne) on the lower mid-level to open and a figure to drop in the dungeon. The front of the bud-shaped top level of the tower (which features some great detail work - with some difficulties, you can make out a reptile skull in its pattern) can swing open, revealing a base for attaching a swivelling/hinged cannon with seat, dual handgrips, HUD face shield and spring-loaded firing mechanism for two missiles; the cannon base shows some nice tech-mech details such as circuitry and gears, and can also serve as a perch for a Pterajet. Each level of the tower can be reached by a working elevator, which can be manually raised and lowered by means of a Rexodon emblem-shaped hand crank (not sure this will be included in the final product) at the base of the elevator shaft; the shaft has a ball jointed ceratopsian skull ornament on top, which can also be used as a head for any figures.

Artelon Tower (Spektrosaur)

Exterior: this grey&ochre tower is modelled after Petra's Al-Khazneh. The central feature of this building is the giant cobra head-shaped facade with eyes and fangs that glow in the dark. The base features a moat as well as a lockable two-segment drawbridge (which folds in the shape of the number 1) as the cobra's gaping mouth; by pushing a stone-button in the adjacent wall, the chained, toothed drawbridge drops down and extends across the moat, thereby letting a figure enter the tower. A number of weapons are sculpted into the bottom of the moat, alongside various bones, a series of footprints, and a crocodile with a hinged upper jaw right under the drawbridge. There is also a separate turtle figure that can be placed in the moat. The moat is fed by a greenish waterfall off the side wall of the building, which is also visible from the inside; the falls are slightly translucent, so if you have a light source behind it, they look like they're glowing... that's pretty menacing! Additionally, rubber pieces resembling trickles and drips of the greenish fluid adorn the top of the tower and the floors inside the building, respectively. A pair of viper-shaped statues emerging from the walls to the left and right of the cobra facade have scaly upper bodies in defensive posture that can fictionally animate to lunge and bite at any interloping warriors (in the toy, they can pivot, bend forward and open their jaws using two handles on the inside of the tower); there are four metal chains that run from the cobra's hood to two metal "collars" around the vipers' bodies

Interior: the lower level simply features the entryway from the front, sided by two stone pillars along with some stickers adorning the space atop them. The stickers are quite interesting - they resemble bookcases with mystical items such as an animal statue, a crystal ball, a skull, a small treasure, and a key, as well as some maps and other fun knick-knacks. The upper level showcases a lizardy theropod skeleton (with ball jointed head) set on a stepped stone base, which works as a bone-throne for Lor-Drek. Two Spektrosaur standards (each made of cloth and displaying a greenish flame) as well as two wooden torches on the wall (which work as handles for moving the viper statues) flank the throne behind, while two floor flames illuminate its front; additionally, two slots at the rear accommodate Lord-Drek's halberd and wooden staff, completing its authoritarian aura. Two wooden grappling ladders that can hang anywhere (there are some slots and notches here and there, to help them be more stable), and four horned skull-shaped bony grappling hooks, which can be used by the Spektrosaur Troopers to swing along the front section chains, are also included.

Ramps

Each tower has a matching ramp that can lead to the gameboard, when it is used as a battleground scenery, or can potentially work to connect the towers to future building extensions.

Game rules

The rules of the game are almost identical to a similar game named WallBreach^TM.

Setup

The board is placed with a gold step-stone at the right-hand end of the rank nearest to each player. The player nearest to the Gold Zone is referred to as the Gold Player and the opposing player is the Silver Player.

At the beginning of the game, gold and silver bricks are separately shuffled face down by each player. Each group of bricks is arranged face down in a 10-by-5 grid and then attached to one of the two Multiversal Walls. The two players exchange their walls and these are placed on ranks 2 (Gold Wall) and 9 (Silver Wall); the step-stones on the top of each wall must match the step-stones on the board. Each player rolls the die; the higher roll determines the dealer for the first battle. The tokens are shuffled face down and dealt randomly to each of the two players.

Each player receives a total of 20 tokens, which are placed on the board as follows:

• 10 tokens are positioned on the Trench (rank 1 or 10) and then instantly turned up and revealed

• 5 tokens are positioned on the Second Line (rank 3 or 8), on the step-stones of the same class (gold or silver) as the corresponding zone

• 5 tokens are positioned on the Frontline (rank 4 or 7), on the step-stones of the opposite class as the corresponding zone, and then instantly turned up and revealed.

Additionally, the remaining 5 tokens are dealt on the five step-stones of the Reinforcement Area.

Declaration

After the deal, players call in turn, starting from the dealer’s rival, electing either to declare or to pass.

A declaration for the current battle is represented by a double roll of the die, which determines:

1. The target number of wins (1 → 6 wins, 2 → 7 wins, 3 → 8 wins, 4 → 9 wins, 5 → 10 wins, 6 → a re-roll must be made by the the same player)

2. The faction that will be ruling (1 → Spektrosaur, 2 → Rexodon, 3 → Destructomorph, 4 → Theriom, 5 → Neutral, 6 → a re-roll must be made by the the same player).

For example, a declaration of 7|Destructomorph indicates that the player intends to win at least seven fights with Destructomorph being the ruling faction. A player who declares 7|Destructomorph may be outdone by his rival on 7|Theriom or 7|Neutral, but not 7|Spektrosaur or 7|Rexodon. Other options are to declare 8 or more of any faction, or pass.

Eventually, one of the two players passes or loses and the declaration is decided. The declaration result and winner must be indicated on the apposite areas on the board using the chips. The numbers enclosed between square brackets in the Declaration Area are used for calculating the score at the end of each battle.

If nobody makes a declaration, the battle is declared dead and a re-shuffle and re-deal is made.

It is important to note that:
• The Deity behaves in all respects as a member of the ruling faction; it is the only ruling piece when the ruling faction is Neutral; it is the highest piece and always wins over every other piece
• The strength of a D-piece depends on the declaration: 8 for D-pieces of non-ruling factions, 13 for the D-piece of the ruling faction and 12 for the auxiliary D-piece (i.e., the D-piece of the same class as the ruling faction)
• The auxiliary D-piece behaves in all respects as a member of the ruling faction and not of its original faction.

Game play

Each battle focuses on 10 fights and ends with a total of 10 step-stones conquered on the two Multiversal Walls. The declaration winner throws the die and, in accordance with the result, checks the corresponding space in the Round Area. Along with the instructions indicated, the players alternately move four pieces (one at a time) on the board.

For example, if the value of the die is 3:

• The Gold Player moves one piece from rank 1 to rank 5

• The Silver Player moves one piece from rank 10 to rank 6

• The Gold Player moves another piece from rank 4 to rank 5

• Finally, the Silver Player moves another piece from rank 7 to rank 6.

Each piece may be moved on either the same file or an adjacent one. Players must follow the lead faction, if they can. When the first piece belongs to the ruling faction (including the Deity and the auxiliary D-piece), this must be followed by any other piece that is considered a ruler (again, including the Deity and the auxiliary D-piece), if possible. If a player no longer has any pieces of the faction that is led, he may play any piece in his side.

After all four pieces have been played, the strongest ruling faction piece or, if no ruling faction piece is played, the strongest piece of the lead faction is named the Raider. The player who owns the Raider is designated the Attacker and moves the Raider to any unoccupied step-stone on the opponent’s Multiversal Wall. The opposing player is the Defender and may start a combat which involves the three pieces on the Battlefield ranks and the Raider on the wall. All the other pieces are not involved in the combat and do not obstruct the combating pieces, which may move in accordance with their agility.

At this point, four cases may occur:

• The Defender cannot engage in any combat, since neither piece in his possession can capture any Attacker’s pieces. The Attacker wins, the fight is over and the Defender’s wall is conquered by the Raider, which is now named the Conqueror

• At least one Defender’s piece can capture an Attacker’s piece. The combat continues with the players alternately moving and capturing one piece at a time, until the player to move has no further legal moves or gets his C-piece captured. This player loses and the fight is over. The combat winning piece is named the Conqueror and is moved to any unoccupied step-stone on the wall of the losing player

• The Defender cannot engage in any combat, since neither piece in his possession can capture any Attacker’s pieces. However, at least one Defender’s piece is a B-, D- or H-piece with a special ability: it can invade the Attacker’s Frontline according to its agility, and collect one token in the Reinforcement Area. The Defender checks the identity of the collected token behind his own wall, sorts through his pieces in the Trench, discards the least-useful one (possibly including the piece picked up from the Reinforcement Area) and places it face down aside. The Attacker wins, the fight is over and the Defender’s wall is conquered by the Raider, which is now named the Conqueror

• The Raider is the Deity. The Attacker wins, the fight is over and the Defender’s wall is conquered by the Raider, which is now named the Conqueror.

After each fight, the Conqueror returns face down and plays no further part in the battle, although it is not removed from its position (its step-stone on the wall remains occupied). Any other pieces that played part in the fight and are still present on the board are removed from play. Any exposed Second Line tokens advance one leap straight and are turned up. The winner of the fight throws the die to determine which player leads on the next fight.

Once all 10 fights have been played, the battle is concluded and the score is calculated. The player opposite to the previous dealer deals for the next battle.

Score calculation and end of game

During a battle the goal is for each player to accomplish at least the declared number of wins.

For example, if the final declaration is 8|Theriom:

• A player wins the battle winning at least eight fights and is awarded the removal of a number of brick-pairs from his rival’s Multiversal Wall equal to the sum of the values between square brackets on the Declaration Area, in this case 8 [11] + Theriom [4] = 15. There is no extra score for any additional fights the player may win in excess of the declaration

• If none of the two players wins eight fights or more, half the number of brick-pairs is removed from the wall of the player who won the fewest fights or, if the battle is a 5-5 draw, from the wall of each player. In this case, the total number of brick-pairs is odd, then it is rounded down to the nearest even number, which is 14 (seven brick-pairs are removed).

The rules of the brick-pairs removal are inspired by Shisen-Sho, a Japanese tile-based game, and can be summarised as follows:

• Only two matching bricks can be removed at a time

• Two bricks can only be removed if they can be connected with a maximum of three horizontal and/or vertical lines, starting and ending at the centre of the bricks

• Lines may only pass through removed bricks.

A player wins the game by removing all the 50 bricks from the rival’s wall or when future moves are not possible, even if bricks are left on the wall.

Overall, the first KR playset and the KR game are here! I had a blast reviewing Tahron. Yes, it’s big, but I’m so glad I got it. PoliganToys did a great job with this thing... it just wouldn't be a toy line until it got a playset and a related game. It also makes me wonder if they could do it again. Is there really a chance this giant could sit at the centre of my floor with expansion parts around it? Well, even if I don’t get other playset pieces, this one is what I needed. It should be the triumphant culmination of the line. And I think it is that.

Happy holidays!!!