Relic Knights Week: Demo Game – Shattered Sword VS Noh Empire
January 20, 2017 by dignity
It's time for a Relic Knights Demo Game as Justin takes control of the Paladins of the Shattered Sword to battle John Cadice from Ninja Division and the ferocious Noh Empire.
Watch Relic Knights Week
In this game we are using the contents of each faction's Battle Box plus an additional minion for each from the Relic Knights range. For the Shattered Sword we have an Aspirant and for the Noh Empire we have a Serpent Priestess.
Big Prizes To Be Won
It wouldn’t be a themed week without some prizes to give away and we’ve got some great goodies lined up…
- 4 x Two Player Packs – Starter Forces Of Your Choice + Rules
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1 x Star Prize – Two Player Starter Set Of Awesomeness – Expanded Forces of the Winners Choice + Rules AND he/she gets to work with the design team to Create A Character for Relic Knights!
All you’re going to need to do is comment on the videos next week across Facebook, YouTube and Beasts Of War to be in with a chance of winning these epic prizes.
Enjoying The Week? View The Range
Which faction would you choose?
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What a great game!
Time to sort coffee and biscuits and settle in for a couple of hours.
Yay for demo game!
demoooooooo !!! good for see the base of innovatives rules
Sweet a demo game, hope to see more gameplay throughout the week.
Is the table smaller than 3×3? I ask because the deployment bubble is usually 9″ rather than 8″.
Love this game. Nice to see it featured here! – I usually play as the Star Nebula Corsairs so it’s nice to see the other factions in action 🙂
Thanks for giving us a chance to win!
Cup of tea: Check. Models to paint: Check. Can see the screen: Check. Press play and begin to learn. 🙂
Cool game, especially the set up anywhere. Really unique game mechanic as well, not seen a like before.
its good to see this great game get some love, there are so many interesting concepts in its design, not to mention the beautiful minis and outrageous backstory!
K watching this at home while I paint my Celestine…
I’ve been waiting to see a demo of this one! Thanks BoW
Very interested in this game…so here is my comment…hope I win.
Awesome!! Would love to paint these models
Cool looking game. I would love to paint and play with these models.
I have to play this game never seen it before I’m Defo gunnar watch every day looks amazing 🙂
I keep mishearing Justin say “ass print”. I can only assume he is actually saying “aspirant”.
I thought he said ‘asperin’ … which when given the hurt that was dealt to him was right.
Brilliant demo guys thanks! Please more battle reports, but seeing as you’ve done a demo could you reduce the length for the next battle, and possibly more close up shots throughout the match?? Keep up the great vids!
More please
Different, no dice,this is a cool game. Awesome figures.
Honestly, im watching this – its kinda cool 😀 loving it 🙂
Whilst it is possible to destroy your own objectives, it’s extremely difficult as you can’t target your own units, and your objectives count as units. Things like the Render’s Line attack can do it, as you can target something else and catch your objective in the Line, though the Render’s damage is too low to make it worthwhile. One Shot, on the other hand, has a high damage Line attack, which does more damage the more Held Esper she has, and she can take out her own objectives with it, plus anything else unfortunate enough to get in the way.
Can you stand on Objectives like that @redben? If Ninja John does it then I’m assuming it’s okay – but obviously you are the final arbiter of all things Relic Knights. 😉
I’ve always played that you couldn’t, I guess on the assumption that they were meant to be 3D objects and similar to models. But I suppose that doesn’t stop them having a flat roof.
@shinygames
No, you cannot. Objectives are markers, markers are units, and you can’t stand on a unit.
If they intended you to be able to, they didn’t write the rules to say that lol
Francis shouldn’t have compelled either when he redirected the attack on him. The compel still counts as coming from the source of the attack, not from Francis.
I caught a few things as well. I hope its a metter of Jon having a mix of old, new, and current rules all swirling in his head.
Thanks, good to know I’ve not been doing it (and teaching it) wrong.
i try one time is not efficiency …. not enought time for this combo and make other scenario.
In 1.0 it could be worth it. The reduction in Held Esper to 1pt meant Daystar Blast was too expensive in 1.5 to make it worthwhile.
Game is definetely unique, loving the mechanics and the turn phase.
Not really sold by the mini yet.
John, you didn’t cheat! It isnt an action to deposit a token. You can deposit it automatically by finishing your Initial or Follow-up move in contact with the deposit location.
Now, that said, you did cheat when you gave the Slave token to the Berserkers (they needed to end a move in contact with it first) and then didn’t drop it when they took damage 😉
It isn’t an action to pick up tokens from the battlefield, only when picking them up from obejctives.
2 hrs long nice
It can be played in a bit over an hour when you’ve got the hang of it. Especially when playing to the tournament VP threshold of 6.
Great demo game from BoW as always.
Shattered swords I think I found my faction that was one epic fight.
The placeholder card allows its controller to heal 2 health on one of their units, which could have been applied to Zineda each time. She also could still use her redirect as the objectives are units which makes them valid targets for a redirect.
I’m usually dubious of diceless games, mainly due to the theatricality of rolling dice to achieve things. But RK seems to handle it well, mainly because the outcome of the attacks don’t just remove models, they were getting knocked all over the shop! Great stuff.
Backed it and got a lot of stuff, but never got around playing it (which is unacceptable).
You’ve just described me and many, many games!
Me too.
Nice to see a demo for this game.
Shattered Sword doesn’t play much like I thought they would.
Great to finally see this game played, I was curious to see how the esper deck worked in game, now I just really want a chance to play a game or two myself
Well played, gents. Looking forward to the other faction breakdowns.
Wasn’t sure about this game at first but thanks to you guys I’m completely sold on it! The gamestye makes it like non other on the market now! I definitely want to pick this up!
Wow! That card mechanic really works great.
One very important distinction to make is telling the difference between yellow and orange esper. Orange esper is a very golden color and has a different symbol from yellow. The colors on the cards in the deck are always situated with adjacent types on the color wheel.
Great game video…only needed Warren with his soldier cam to go close-up filming of the action.
Looks like a very cool game, some very different mechanics there.
Ok… Hands up moment. When I heard it was an “Anime” style, I did turn my nose up. Watching this demo and watching the faction videos, I actually really like the sound of this. Bonus, my wife likes Anime and is a wargamer, so I cant see it being difficult convincing her to play it. Really good game.
P.S. Is John the secret love-child of @warzan and @oriskany ? Just putting it out there….. 😛
I love the “deploy all mixed up” idea. Saves that 1-2 turns shuffling about and gets everyone stuck in straight away. Great demo, fascinating game.
I dig the dashboard mechanic! I can use all my Magic the Gathering supplies with this game
Lovely looking board with lovely looking minis. Can’t ask for more from a game.
The game looks awesome!
This game looks great and makes me more and more want to play the game. Love how the shattered sword looks.
YEAY Demo game time, now to see the proof of the pudding.
I knew relic knights had an interesting and unique rules set but it’s great to see it in action.
very cool game play that looks like a lot of fun.
I absolutely adore the activation tracker, the cards and the card sleeves. super anime sci fi computer game the way the cards move down the activation tracker. very cool.
you could almost see the anime action play out in John’s imagination with those sound effects and voices. he would be super cool to play with that narrative style.
it was mentioned in the comments earlier about them switching from plastic to resin.
is the whole range now in resin or is it just the newer sculpts?
Just the newer sculpts at this point.
thanks mate
Interesting way to handle activations with the tracker and lining up characters.
I linke how fast paced it is. Constant action looks a lot of fun.
That was a fun game to watch, thanks for this! And i really like the rules and mechanics of this fame!
Yup – definitely going to have to pick this one up at some point.
Looks like a fun game
Demo game! Great to see, as these are the factions I don’t have [ hint 🙂 ] and don’t see that often locally. Keep up the RK fun.
Watching this, I’m itching to get in another game of Relic Knights. It’s been too long. It’s time to field a Radiant and Void cadre, methinks. If there’s any folk here from Northern Ireland who want to give it a go, give me a shout.
Love the mechanics and non stop playing in this game.
Game looks interesting.. looking forward to the rest of the week.
Awesome game, interesting mechanics, but do i really need another game?
What a battle. What a game!
Whilst I’ll probably need to try playing the game myself to get a proper feel for it, it’s good to see a game trying something different from the norm for rulesets.
Mechanics look very interesting. I really like what I have seen so far.
Great demo. Makes me wish I had someone to play against closer, but great inspiration for painting. Keep up the good work.
I’m so tempted by this game.
@shinygames might have to get some off you as well as Heavy Gear Blitz items 🙁
It really is a great game and unlike anything else out there. I love it to bits. The low model count and affordable starter boxes that include everything you need to play do make it an easy second (or third, or fourth or hundredth) game to get into too.
cool mechanics
I’m disapointed in you Justi, playing the Paladin with a Black diamond dashboard. Heresy!
I’m really glad so many people are liking the gameplay. Can’t wait to see what the rest of the week brings!
That looked like a blast. It’s pretty difficult to find players or play space around here but this one is on my wish list.
Very interesting will be telling the fellows at the club to check this out!
I love this game! Deployment is such a great part of what sets it apart from other skirmish games! I’m excited to see more new models and rules!
One of my favorite factions in the game; love these minis!
would be really fast with two players familiar with the game, it looks easy to pick up too!
Good game guys!
definitely some interesting mechanics. it seems more streamlined than a dice based system
It’s good to finally see the game in action. The Esper deck mechanic definitely makes for a unique style of play. It looks as fun as it does awesome! I look forward to playing my first game… but first I have to choose a faction to play. An impossible choice.
Demo!!! Shattered Sword rule!
I need this in my life 😀
Really enjoyed that game, interesting mechanics and very interesting not having any dice rolling in a miniatures game.
Love the scenery you made on that table.
Now I want to play it.
It really looked like so much fun. I love how the models run around on the board, not just standing still in line and shooting. Feels more actionpacked. And the ‘line-up’ system looks really interesting.
It looks so fun 😀
Really interesting Mechanics I like the style and the objectives give the games purpose.
Tough for the color blind.
Sexy, snake women. Welp, this is another Faction I want. And then badass space knights! My wallet hates how much I love these.
seems a great game. really need to win a prize to allow myself another game in my hobby quiver as my poor wallet cant take much more
Ninja john is Ace, but was hoping Justin would get a spanking
The Shattered Sword did work, awesome work Justin.
Nicely fluid gameplay. It looks like I need to try a new game.
There is a lot of back and forth within the activations…this seems to be a trend with games recently. I like it.
Liked the demo slot the game is super fast with movement
Great little game, showed off loads of the mechanics really well!
I remember when these minis got into my nearby hobby shop a few years back and got to say I saw that one of my favorite Cosplayers, Marie Claude, had been supporting relic Knights and actually has a model made of her in game. It caught my eye and got me into collecting the game. This demo helped flush out some rules and answer a few questions I had. Glad this week is going on thank you!
The number of people commenting on this saying how refreshing it is to see a diceless miniature game amuses me. It’s like Malifaux hasn’t existed for years!
This system does look great though!
Don’t forget Freebooter’s Fate. 😉
In my defence, I’ve not seen much of that!
Nice demo, I like the mechanics of this game. There are a lot of hard choices to be made.
I love listening to John.
The game looks great, figures are beautiful, nice card. Everything works smoothly and is full of atmosphere. I do not have the game in such realities and willing to try something new like this.
Do you need an ‘Aspirin’ for that headache? 🙂 Kept hearing it throughout the video. I can never look at Shattered Swords with a straight face again.
Cool demo. Just one small complaint: The front view camera was placed too low. With that boxy, raised terrain you could hardly see where any of the miniatures were.
Always been interested in this game!
I can’t decide if the cards limiting what actions I can take is too restrictive, or if its the equivalent of getting to roll your dice before deciding what actions to take. It seems interesting though. Something I’d have to play to see how I feel about it.
I had a similar thought before I started playing, and generally it’s not that limiting. Most basic actions aren’t too difficult to get the right Esper for. Some more powerful attacks are a lot more difficult to get the right cards at the right time, but you can always use Held Esper to help power those, either from a turn’s Refocusing or generated by a Cypher.
That said, as @dignity suggested, Esper colour is a factor when deciding which models to field. If you’re playing Shattered Sword, for example, whose models use a lot of Blue Esper and usually either Green or Yellow as a secondary colour, it can be a good idea to focus on one or the other to make it easier to collect the correct Esper for your models.
Sweet! I was really keen to see how this played. This video made for a thoroughly interesting watch. Thanks guys! Well played @dignity though John had more VP’s, so it really demonstrates how a player has to focus on their objectives.
Great games guys, well done to Justin for the win.
Interesting to see the mechanics in action. Thought it would feel more like Freebooter’s Fate, but it is definitely something different.
I played a demo of this game years ago. I think the system is so slick.
Nice! Me and my buddy have had models for about a year now but have never played. Thanks for the awesome demo to jump start us into action!
Super hyped for void break! Can’t wait for the kickstarter. I already have all of the existing models so I can’t wait to get a few more to paint!
Has Justin ever won a demo game?
Very interesting game mechanics
Great playthrough. After a few turns I was really able to pick up how the rules work. This could be a great game to get your card playing friends to try a miniature game.
I watched this fight over the last two nights and I’ve gotta say I’m definitely sold on the innovative way that action outcomes are more about resource management than just sheer luck.
Some really pretty minis in Shattered Sword. Can’t want to see the new stuff.
I am loving the mechanics of this game
I like the mechanics in this game it feels like a mix of a board game and a table top game.
Love it when you do a demo game, gives everyone a feel for the game!
Great video! I’ve been wondering what this game looks like being played. Thanks.
Wow the gameplay looks very fun!
That was a great demo game, and as there aren’t too many demo videos of Relic Knights out there a very welcome addition.
This was really strange to not have any dice involved, but I must say the gameplay actually suites the models and the style of the miniatures. Wow so amazing to see and quite a refreshing change. I love the double movement and fast pace of the game, and the low model count is actually quite appealing.
Played it a few times , its a great game really needs more exposure
Go Butt Kicking for Justice! Great video guys and now I actually understand the game.
Great run through of the game, seems really fun and definitely worth looking into. Plus all the cuteness if the models will get the wife into this too!!
Great demo game guys love the ebb and flow. I can see how the game keeps players involved in the game even when it not there turn.
Never really knew anything about Relic Knights before, so I jumped straight into this demo game to see what it is all about. I have to say I’m impressed with the game system; it has many elements that are completely different to your normal Skirmish game. I really like the card and no dice system it uses. The continuous back and forth gameplay without any rigid turn or rounds and pre-selecting units a few activations in advance really give this game a different feel and different tactical challenges. Now I need to dive into the rest of the videos from this week!
Really good to see how the game is played, been interested in it for a while but yet to make the plunge. Think I’m gonna have to pester the others at my gaming club to see if they’ll join me. Thanks. ^_^
I didn’t know much about this game until this week, and now it’s another game I’m interested in picking up! It’s like dropfleet week all over again!
Justin don’t forget to draw your attack cards to boost your attacks.
Interesting game play. Not used to seeing a dice-less system.
I loved the look on John’s face “Francis Malory is doing _how much_ damage?! Oowwww!!” It’s not often that you see that level of surprise on the face of a developer playing his own game. 😀
Awesome video guys, love the batrep.
Need more, more, more.
Brother G
Looking forward to play more of this game in the coming months. Just need to finish my Noh & Black Diamond
Victory for the Shattered Swords!
I was getting concerned there that the Not would win.
Oops. Spoiler alert.
This was really helpful, gives a good idea of the pacing of the game
Excellent tutorial!
They seem to enjoy the game
This game interests me more and more the more I see of it.
Great stuff gents! Really interested in this game now… Do I go Relic Knights or Beyond the Gates of Antares!! Argh!!
There’s really not a wrong answer there – both are great games but very different. I have to say that Relic Knights is my favourite skirmish game ever, so I am biased, but with the excellent new £35 2-player starter set for BtGoA the cost of trying that out is very low now.
Very fun game to watch, a lot of back-and-forth here. I hadn’t considered Shattered Sword before, but this has me reconsidering them.
not really sold on the game yet.. love the minis though!
That’s how I’ve gotten started – I’ve bought a couple of the minis just for the looks, and am now considering getting started on the game (if I can find opponents in the area) 😉
Awesome game, I was a little unsure with the lack of dice but it all now makes sense. Thanks for doing this guy’s!!
This report was cool!
Nice to see a demo
This game looks fun, fast and with a suprising amount of strategy. I am lookin forward to playing it.
Okay I a bit confused, since the post states that this been out for 3 hours. But the video and the comments are from days ago. I don’t get it but I don’t care. Its a fun looking game. Just like so many others that I have tried to get my friends in too…
@spacewolflord
I think they’ve just reposted it at the end of the theme week so it appears further up the newsfeed.
Noh or Shattered sword. I can’t decide
Best demo game ever. i like when you do pause and do commentary this was sweet on the rules and whats exacty happening and why. keep up the good work. and hire the guy from ninnja division for once we have rules right ;P
Always good to see the game in play, makes me want to get a game on vid myself
Been eyeing Relic Knights for ages as love the style. Still waiting for the Void Break 2 player set for a much easier buy in
I really like John yo. He seems pretty cool
I just love these demo games. It really helps getting the flavour of the game.
Very nice game mechanics, and with no dice to worry about its all about hand building and spending cards wisely
Would love to win this as can see it becoming a favourite very quickly
Great to see the game in action. watching these let’s plays have been a massive help in learning and understanding new games.
Stuff like this helped me to understand infinity and team yankee.
More joy and more fun
Wow the BoW staff won the demo game! Call Killian and let him know he should play Carlos now!
Can some one explain how the card mechanics work for those who only use dice?
In dice games you use a die as a randomizer to determine how successful your chosen action is. In RK you don’t have a random chance to hit or to succeed at damage. Rather, you use esper cards as a resource to determine what actions you can initiate. That is not to say random elements do not exist in the game but they are more tied to defending or amplifying the attack your chose -or even what actions you can afford at the time.
I’m confused is this the same video I was watching the other evening?
Cannot thank you enough for this play through. I’ve been on the fence about this game for a while, but this has sold me on it.
Go Shattered Swords!
good looking set of rule, want to try them
hmm… randomness that you can somewhat control with the esper deck… LOVE IT 😀
A great demo into the game. I think I’m going to pick up some starter boxes and the rule book.
I wish that guy’s voice was on my sat nav! Looks a fun game. It’s on my radar now so well done BOW for adding yet more shiny syndrome in my life.
Great game to get people interested – even more tempted now.
Good watch, the mechanics are nice I liked what I saw (unfortunately as I’m more tempted to pick this up now).
that was longer then i was expecting. gg all round tho.
I really like the Deck mechanic. Justin’s draw of 3 dark in one pull took his hand out of the game for a round basically. Very fast paced. Looks like a ton of fun.
This looks like a game that could tick a few boxes for me:
Anime themed skirmish (never enjoyed the mechanics of infinity)
Indefinite length due to the lack of turns — love this
Diceless (though still wanting to try malifaux)
I will just have to choose the factions now … need some close up shots.
Interesting game and a great insight into game mechanics.
Cool gane
Would so love to win one of the prizes. I’m sitting here watching my main playing partner play a game of guildball which as usual he’s lost because it contains dice so was thinking that if I could get him into relic knight he might be able to give me a good game as there no dice
Did the break discussions not get edited in? I like to hear how the strategies are changing and thoughts on how things went.
really cool game, I like the way the mechanics work and the fact there are no turns.
Loving the game, and the minis look really nice.
..in which John kicked Aspirant!
Looking forward to seeing this batrep. Need to find time to watch it uninterrupted
Cool stuff!
great game I so wanted Justin to lose