Pyramid: Pyramid Review: Rocketmen: Axis of Evil

Pyramid Review

Rocketmen: Axis of Evil

Published by WizKids, Inc.

Designed by Jordan Weisman, Jon Leitheusser, & Shane Small

Illustrated by Vic Bonilla, Sandra Garavito, Kim Goddard, Shane Hartley, Kian Chai Ng, Ethan Pasternack, Shane Small, Dustin Tucker, & Kelsey Wagner

Rocketmen: Axis of Evil Cartoon DVD with Two Pre-set Ship Cards, Microid Resource Card, Crew Resource Card, Asteroid Card, 2½" × 3½" b&w 16-Page Rulebook, & One Six-Sided Die; $12.99
Rocketmen: Axis of Evil Game Pack Containing Two Ship Cards, Microid Resource Card, Crew Resource Card, Asteroid Card, 2½" times; 3½" b&w 16-Page Rulebook, & One Six-Sided Die; $3.99

Genres come and go, sometimes in waves as multiple publishers jump aboard the latest trend. In 2001 it was World War II, and in 2003 it was pirates. Currently we seem to be between phases, and the only piratical survivor is WizKids' Pirates of the Spanish Main. This was the first CSG (or Constructible Strategy Game). Themed around the Golden Age of Sail with English and Spanish ships engaging with each other and pirates for the gold ashore the islands of the Caribbean, the constructible element were the ships themselves. Packaged as a pair of plastic styrene cards, the pieces snapped together as frigates, galleons and other ships, as well as forts in later expansion.

Matched with simple game play, Pirates of the Spanish Main managed to bridge the gap between collectible card game and the miniatures game, retaining the best features of both. Now WizKids have . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.

Article publication date: March 10, 2006

Copyright © 2006 by Steve Jackson Games. All rights reserved. Pyramid subscribers are permitted to read this article online, or download it and print out a single hardcopy for personal use. Copying this text to any other online system or BBS, or making more than one hardcopy, is strictly prohibited. So please don't. And if you encounter copies of this article elsewhere on the web, please report it to webmaster@sjgames.com.