Upcoming Mage Wars Events

GAMA Trade Show
March 12-16, 2012
Bally's
Las Vegas, NV

PaxEast
April 6-8, 2012
Boston Convention and Exhibition
Boston, MA

ACD Games Day
April 11-13, 2012
Madison, WI

Origins Game Fair
May 30-June 3, 2012
Greater Columbus Convention Center
Columbus, OH

Mage Spotlight - The Priestess

A force for all that is good and light in the world of Taern, the Priestess is always ready with her healing magic and a soothing word to bolster her allies’ morale, and show the benevolence and grace of Asyra, the Goddess of Light. The Priestess strives to live up to the example set by her goddess, and shine the light of purification on the dark corners of the world. However it would be foolish to take her mercy and kindness for weakness. When called to defend those in need, the Priestess can channel the wrath of the Dawnbreaker, and burn her enemies with holy fire, and blind them with brilliant light.

To learn more about the Priestess and her arsenal of holy spells and pure creatures, please visit www.magewars.com.

"[Mage Wars] has an elegant combat system that simplifies play while affording a wide range of tactical choices." -Mage Wars Fan

The Origins of Mage Wars

I have always loved games since I was a 6 years old.  Any kind of game, but fascinated primarily with board games.  I spent all of my allowance money, and then later, all of my lawn mowing money, buying boards games.  I started making my own board games when I was 7 years old, rummaging around to use almost anything for parts and pieces.  By the time I was in my 30’s I had built a substantial library of designs.  I have 5 children, and between them and their many friends, we have been able to test and play many of my designs over the years.

About 5 years ago I decided I was finally going to get serious and publish a game.  After some discussion we settled on an idea I had come up with awhile back for a tactical game of Mage combat.

Mage Wars is the brain child of 2 other games I created over 15 years ago.  The first game was called Legendary Kingdoms.  This was a fantasy game of territory control and conquest.  Players build armies of fantasy creatures that move over a large fantasy map, and the battles were fought out on smaller tactical boards.  Many of the battle mechanics, and even some of the creatures and abilities, were placed into Mage Wars.

Another game I made about the same time was a fantasy role-playing game called Legendary Heroes.  This was a favorite amongst my sons and their friends, and for many for them this was their role-playing game of choice, over D&D and other games, because of its unique freestyle character building structure and battle resolution mechanics.   I developed the major spell schools and spells in this game, which later became the basis for the magic system in Mage Wars.

The goal in creating Mage Wars was to create a realistic tactical Mage battle, where things work like they should as if magic were real.  Range, line of sight, creature durability, spell resolution, mana channeling and expenditure, etc. are based on “fantasy world physics”.  However, its streamlined enough to play in about 75 minutes.  I didn’t want super long battles, I wanted time between battles to reorganize spellbooks and try new tactics.  Most of the last 5 years was spent walking a delicate tightrope between simplicity/speed and realism/tactics.  That, and playtesting out the thousands of combinations and permutations to get the game right.  The math model behind the game is extremely complex, and uses over 80 spreadsheets, some of which are gigantic in size.  

In designing the game we ended up with a strange combination of miniatures (where the cards represent miniatures and objects in the battle), and customizable card games (with spellbook building).  What we did NOT want was to build a simple card game, where you draw cards and hope to get the spell you are supposed to know. We wanted a lot more realism and tactics than that.  In the end we had developed an entirely new genre that does not fit either category, and we’re particularly proud of that!

-Bryan Pope, Creator of Mage Wars

"Can't wait to get my hands on this."
-James Sutterlin

BASHCon XXVII: February 16-18, 2012

The Mage Wars Team travelled to Toledo, OH to participate in BASHCon XXVII located on the beautiful University of Toledo campus. Our team was very thankful for the gracious hospitality shown by the BASHCon Team. We were impressed with the venue; the campus was amazing, the space provided was more than adequate to meet our needs, and the staff was second to none. The reception we received by the staff, attendees, and other retailers was appreciated immensely.

Frankly, we were surprised by the attention, participation and support we garnered from the attendees. Expecting a smaller show, we were pleasantly surprised at how busy we were. We estimate that we ran over eighty demonstrations throughout the course of the show!

We look forward to bringing Mage Wars back to BASHCon for many years to come!

"Awesome weekend thanks to the people from the Mage Wars team!"
-Cameron Maynard

THACO Interviews the Mage Wars Team

Bryan and Patrick took time away from their busy demo-ing schedule to sit down and talk with Mark and Jim from THACO, www.thacopodcast.com. Follow the link and click on Episode B: BASHCon for a short interview with the designers of one of the most anticipated board games of the summer, Mage Wars. 

Following the Mage Wars interview, you will hear a light hearted discussion of why Pirates are so much cooler than Ninjas. Arrgh! 

The Art of Mage Wars

The Rules Corner

A Round of Mage Wars - Part I: The Ready Stage

Phase I: Initiative

If you have the initiative marker, you must give it to your opponent. He has the initiative this round. The player with initiative always acts first during the Action Stage.

Phase II: Reset

Turn all action markers, quick spell markers, and ready markers on your cards face up.

Phase III: Channeling

Each mage adds mana equal to his channeling to his mana supply. Any objects in the arena that channel mana also add mana to their supply at this time.

Phase IV: Upkeep

You must pay all upkeep costs for any objects you control with an upkeep. Many other effects and conditions are also handled during the upkeep phase, such as Regeneration.

Phase V: Planning

Choose any two spells from your spellbook to prepare for the round.

Phase VI: Deployment

Each spawnpoint you control may cast one spell.

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Designer Spotlight - Sean McCoy

Sean has worked as a freelance graphic designer and videographer for the last five years. In 2011 he directed several music videos and produced an animated pilot for a webseries entitled "Zombie Theater". From March 2008 to April 2010 he directed and produced the full length film "Waiting Rooms." During this time, he also directed sketches for a weekly sketch comedy group called called "We Did It!"

In 2011 Sean re-connected with his old friend Bryan Pope and after playing Mage Wars for the first time, loved it. He spent the next year helping Bryan with graphics, tradeshows, and logistics. He currently works on the Mage Wars graphics team.

Sneak Peek: New Mages Enter the Arena

The Forcemaster

The Forcemaster uses her mind to cast spells of invisible force - telekinetic energy. She can use these offensively to smash, hold, push, or crush creatures; or defensively to create invisible walls of force or a forcefield around herself. Adept at manipulation, the Forcemaster can control the minds of summoned creatures and force them to bend to her will. Some of her spells include: Push, Invisible Fist, Knockdown, Crush, and Forcefield.  

Stay tuned to www.magewars.com to learn more about this powerful mage!

The Warlord

The Warlord is a master of the battlefield, using War magic to summon armies of creatures (usually humanoid soldiers). He calls upon the power of Akiro, God of War, to give his troops favor in battle. He casts command spells that order his troops to make deadly precision attacks, as well as, evade guards to reach a protected target. 

For more information about the upcoming release of the Warlord, follow Mage Wars on Facebook and Twitter!

A Request from the Mage Wars Team

Folks, we here at the Mage Wars Team want to give you the best game experience possible. In that spirit, we welcome your thoughts, ideas, comments, etc. about what you would like to see in the Mage Wars arena. If you have any suggestions or ideas, please contact Patrick Connor at patrickconnor@arcanewonders.com and share your thoughts.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you in the arena in Summer 2012!