Demonlord is one of those pocket games that punches above its weight. Like GEV and Melee, it represents a low-count and short-rulebook entry into the hex-and-counter hobby for newcomers, but it does offer a full blown experience. My play-through took a good four to five hours of play – including all the usual set-up and lighting time for the video receipts it probably would have been a good two to three hours of solo play on my own. After a game or two, two players could easily bang out a game in about 60-90 minutes. Not counting set-up time, which is probably a 20-30 minute process in and of itself.
Honestly, if I’m going to play a game for more than an hour or so…just give me the full experience. Might as well invest the full thirty in large and professional components and a full map board.
The gameplay itself is smooth, but rife with fiddly bits that aren’t all consolidated into one place. With the allies available, the in-depth tactical combat, and the siege mechanic, there’s a lot to track in each phase, and the game-ending subsystem adds to the lift. It could definitely use a better tracking sheet to help you remember all the little rule exceptions, but again, one fumble-through should see you comfortable enough to play with all the trimmings.
As for the game, it’s a lot of fun. There are a host of strategic decisions that put you on a path that’s hard to break out of, and enough unpredictability to keep you on your toes and making decisions to the bitter end. The demons have a lot of forces, but it’ll take them time to get them all on the map and even more time to get them hustling around the mountains and hills at the center of the map. They have a lot of fliers that can zip around, but they’ll be vulnerable if they get intercepted.
And all the time the demons spend getting their acts together gives the Hosarians time to consolidate all of their own forces. They have the advantage of plenty of open grasslands, and a straight shot along the northern half of the battlefield from home to the city of Nissar. It’s a long hike, but where the demons have more fliers, the forces of Hosar have a lot of cavalry that can hammer across the board in a couple of turns.
It’s a really great design with just a couple of flaws that prevent it from being an all-time classic. Despite the power levels favoring the demons, a clever human player can cause him all sorts of fits as they adjust their strategies and bounce back and forth between winning on the battlefield, and sniping a few cities here and there.
Print it, play it, you won’t regret it.