KR|Origin Review #27: Origin Expansion Kit for Tahron

Yes, after one year of waiting and sheer anticipation since my review of the epic Tahron playset/game, the prototype of the very first expansion kit for that grand theatre of war has finally arrived to my home!

Description

The KR|Origin Expansion Kit features:

• 24 booster tokens for the game
• Two additional sections and several accessories for Theriom City Tower

• A bag with 75 translucent red chips that are shaped like Antikythron crystals

I'm going to describe these components separately.

Booster Tokens
The primary tokens comprise the basic complement of pieces that can be used to play the game; this may be expanded with booster tokens from expansion kits, which contain 24 pieces of varying qualities. One of these tokens is usually a rare piece that is much harder to obtain than the remaining pieces.

Similarly to the primary tokens, each booster token is composed of a hollow cylindrical sandy taupe 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), which can represent either a completely new character or a new version of a primary piece. The cylindrical base bears a pointer, which is used to indicate the player who owns the piece.

Besides the usual properties, i.e., class, faction, strength, agility, and in some cases a special ability or limitation, each expansion piece is also characterised by a particular era (in this case Origin) and a number of accumulable credits. In limited cases (i.e., primary era variants), expansion pieces present no credit, but are characterised by additional strength values and/or different agility patterns compared to their primary counterparts.

List of Origin expansion pieces and their properties.

List of possible primary pieces variants in the Origin Expansion Kit (only one piece is included in the kit).

Theriom City Tower additional sections

Like with the original tower, the red&gold frontages of these two sections are loosely modelled after Beijing's Forbidden City. These two parts attach to the two sides of Theriom City Tower via sturdy hinges, which allow you to open up the fully assembled playset and display it with the three sections side by side, or to fold it up with each additional section positioned at a 90 degree angle to the original tower.

Section 1 (placed to the left of Theriom Tower) - exterior: the lower level features a Colosseum-like façade with a semi-decagonal plan, flanked externally by a short bridge carrying a path across a river (yes, there's even a small sculpted piece of river), which connects an arch-shaped secondary gateway (ornamented with a large gilded Theriom emblem and holding an elaborate bronze symbolic cistern that contains a massive egg-shaped opalescent blue-white gemstone) to an elevator shaft. The upper level is characterised by the presence of a couple of small translucent blue windows (one of which can be opened) and a ledge holding a white marble sundial. The elevator shaft (ending with futuristic slender spires, and enclosing a moving chair driven by a string and held by a hook) leads to a rooftop featuring a slot for a flight stand (on which an Aviotak can perch, but I wish this space were used for the Gyrocarrier's domed heliport with elevated runway!) and a small watchtower equipped with a parapet and a rigid Theriom flag (whose pole looks like a sort of antenna).

Section 1 - interior: the inner side of the semi-decagonal wall presents a training facility, with sculpted weapons and combat-related equipment. Next to it (behind the elevator shaft), there is a bricky prison cell with a translucent blue opening door. The upper level features a room that acts both as a library and a gallery, containing shelves with collections of books and an array of paintings (mostly portraits of members of the Amhalgaard family). This chamber is modelled after the Amber Room and is furnished with a cloth-covered chair (equipped with two golden clips and a pillow) and a book stand; it is worth noting that due to the low ceiling, this level cannot accommodate for a standing figure. The rooftop presents several parapets and a space for parking more Aviotak aircrafts (which don't actually fit). There are also two slots for attaching an optional carrying handle - more on this later.

Section 2 (placed to the right of Theriom Tower) - exterior: the front wall of the lower level has an opening overhead door, which is (hardly) large enough to accommodate a vehicle like CoBoN. The upper level has a ledge served by stairways from both the lower level and the rooftop, and features small parapets at different levels. The top is characterised by a pyramidal roof, and a large watchtower equipped with a parapet and a rigid Theriom flag (whose pole, also in this case, looks like a sort of antenna). All the parapet pieces included in this playset are removable and can be re-positioned in different spots.

Section 2 - interior: the lower level features a garage/workshop for housing and repairing a vehicle, which is equipped with sculpted tools (such as a meter of some sort and a welding gun), machinery and glass containers for chemicals. Next to it, there is a small garden with sculpted shrubs and flowers, which is seemingly an outdoor space separated from the garage by a wall and an upright pillar (the latter being an obvious reference to a gazebo that is missing in this playset). The upper level is dominated by a dining room (sometimes used as a music room) with large mirror stickers, which is modelled after the Hall of Mirrors. It contains a table with sculpted cutlery, bowls of food, fruit baskets and two separate goblets of wine (these cups are chromed with gold, have a nice design patterned around the outside, and hold a dark-purple “liquid”), an elaborate chandelier hanging from a caisson ceiling, and a fireplace with a flame-like lenticular sticker and a removable grate; four chairs are also included, but they can't really fit in the room when the table is present.

Additionally, the set comes with a throne that has a permanently attached red fur rug, which is meant to replace the conference table in the council room of Theriom City Tower, in order to match the Origin (and also the Enmity) series' throne hall look.

There is also a set of optional swivelling latches and a carrying handle, which allow you to safely lock the opening sides of the assembled playset and to carry this by the handle.

Game rules with expansion pieces

Setup
The setup of a game with booster tokens is identical to the one of the original game, with the only difference that each player may have an optional side-set of up to 15 booster tokens of his choice (but he may not have more than two primary era variant pieces). Each player must present his side-set of face down booster tokens to the rival before a battle, and allow the rival to count and record the number of pieces upon request. The booster tokens of each side-set are put aside (where the opponent cannot see them) and turned up before the primary tokens are shuffled, and those pieces are considered being temporarily outside the game.

Declaration
The declaration process may be influenced by knowledge of the identity of the booster tokens in each player’s own side-set.

Game play
A player may exchange any number of pieces between the side-set and the playing set during each battle, but the number of pieces in the side-set after the exchange must be the same as the number of pieces before the exchange. The exchange enables a player to modify the playing pieces in order to gain new abilities and suit a game strategy against the opponent.

Exchange is only allowed:
• Between two pieces that have both identical faction colour (for example yellow, red or brown) and identical ID letter (X, A, B, C, …, K)
• By a player who has just played a primary piece
• Immediately after that primary piece has been played.

For example, if a player moves the piece Masq-Lor from his Frontline to his Battlefield on the gameboard, the same player will be allowed in that moment to exchange that piece with a piece belonging to a yellow faction and with ID letter “D” from his side-set, if any is available. Moving exposed Second Line tokens one leap straight and turning them up are not considered actions that allow players to exchange pieces. After an exchange, the game continues with the original rules.

Use of credits and end of battle
Credits in the form of coloured chips may only be collected if the exchanged piece eventually conquers one of the two walls. Other abilities provided by variants, such as increased strength and/or different agility, may be used at the most convenient moment during a single fight.

Immediately after a fight and before the start of the following one, a player who has accumulated enough credits may decide to make use of them. Only one player may use his credits after each fight; if both players decide to use their credits after the same fight, the player who has the highest total number of credits will have the priority, but will not be allowed to spend more credits at the end of the next fight (he will be allowed to spend more credits at the end of the fight after next).

Depending on the colour of the accumulated credits, these may be spent to gain certain abilities with pre-defined costs.

The chips included in the Origin expansion kit are translucent red, and spending 10 of them allows a player to decide which player leads on the next fight and whether the play continues with the lead from the trench or the frontline, avoiding a roll of the die.

After each battle, each player must recollect any booster tokens he used from his side-set. The side-set can be modified before the next battle, and any accumulated credits can be kept for use during the following battles.

Overall, this set is fantastic, and really channels the sense of wonder and greatness of last year's Tahron playset/board game prototype. I'm going to abstain from making any claims about the game play enhancements, because I just haven't spent enough time playing with it. The additional playset sections are quite well designed though, with only a few questionable decisions (the many horizontal surfaces that are way too narrow, and the too low ceiling in the library/gallery room), and come with lots of nice, fun accessories.

Happy holidays!!!