Pyramid Review
Compact Warrior
Published by MicroTactix
Designed by Greg Poehlein and Guy McLimore
Art by Gary M. Williams
Rulebook, 2 game boards, 33 weapon cards, and 32 cardboard figures, $9.00
For many gamers, the notion of a cheap, desk-top published game brings to mind visions of incomplete rules, incomprehensible editing, and an older, wiser voice reminding them that they get what they pay for. While many $9.00 games are not worth the paper they are photocopied on, Compact Warrior breaks with tradition by providing a nicely detailed board game of man-to-man fantasy combat. Compact Warrior stands on its own as a GM-less fighting game or it can replace the combat rules of fantasy RPGs (including MicroTactix's forthcoming Simply Roleplaying game.) If you have ever dropped all the role-playing out of a game and created a few characters just to see them mindlessly slug it out in an arena, then Compact Warrior might provide you with a more strategic violence fix.
Compact Warrior comes with a 24 page rulebook, several sheets of weapon cards, a page of cardboard figures, and two, square-grid playing boards. The rules are clear and suffer from only a couple of editing mistakes. The black and white art is satisfactory for the game's price, however, its lines have suffered in the laser printer. The cardboard figures are sturdy and appropriate even if they have drawings on only their front sides, the reverse of each being a silhouette.
. . .This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: March 3, 2000
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