Dark Souls – The Board Game

The Explorers Expansion is essentially an upgrade for the core game set, bringing new enemy types and encounters, along with 3D scenery to replace the cardboard tokens from the core game box. It also adds a new Main Boss and introduces Mimics to the game.

While the 3D scenery is by no means essential, it is a lot more pleasing on the eye than cardboard tokens. The set also includes the iconic Dark Souls Bonfire, for your party to rest and warm their bones!

The first enemy in this set is another type of Hollow, in the form of the Firebomb Hollow. These guys are a real nuisance as their detonating projectiles are able to hit multiple heroes that are occupying the same node, forcing your party to spread out.

This expansion also brings the Silver Knight Spearmen to the table. The Spearmen are a variation of the Silver Knight Swordsman, playing a more defensive role than their sword wielding counterparts.

In addition to the six heroes from the previous entry, the Character Expansion includes miniatures representing ten classic armour sets from the Dark Souls series. These can be discovered as treasure items in game, allowing you to swap out your hero model for one of these miniatures when you equip the armour.

Evolving your character is a big part of the Dark Souls gaming experience and its a nice touch to bring this to the tabletop. It would be great to see more of these in future expansions, so that players can further customise their heroes.

The first of the expansions I’d like to showcase is the Characters Expansion. This set includes the remaining six hero archetypes from the series, greatly expanding the way that players can approach the game.

As you would expect, each hero brings a different approach to combat and favours a different path of character development.

Of particular note are the Pyromancer, Cleric and Sorcerer who bring the three  disciplines of magic to the tabletop.

Additionally we have the Thief and the Mercenary. Finally, for those who prefer to run about in a loincloth with nothing but a plank for protection and a club to bash their enemies, we have the Deprived.

As with the heroes from the core game, my intention has been to match the paint scheme to the character board art as much as possible.

The last group of models from the Core Box are the four heroes, representing four of the ten archetypes from the game series. These miniatures are based on the Dark Souls III character art which is depicted on the player boards used in the board game.

Six further heroes are available through one of the game Expansions. For now we have the Knight, Warrior, Herald and Assassin. 

I’ve aimed to paint these models to match up to their player boards, using the same simple techniques as the rest of the set. Like the other models they have been finished with soft tone and mat varnish.

The final two mini boss models from the core game are the Gargoyle and Titanite Demon. Both of these enemy types featured in DSI, though Gargoyles have appeared in various guises throughout the series.

In the original game the Gargoyles appeared almost entirely covered in verdigris. On closer inspection there is a little more going on and I wanted as much variation as possible in order to show off the different textures of the model. In the end I based my colour scheme on a piece of design artwork I found during a search.

I added a verdigris weathering on the bronze armour sections and shield to keep the figure in line with the video games series.

The Titanite Demon’s appear almost black in the original game, with an ore like finish. 

I tackled this character in the same way as the armoured models, light dry brushing and consecutive coats of wash. In this case the primer and dry brush were grey while the washes were Agrax and Nuln oil. This really brought out the stone texture of the model.

Sticking with the armoured models we have the first of the two mini bosses, The Winged Knight and the Boreal Outrider Knight. Both of these enemies feature Dark Souls III.

The Winged Knight has quite a tarnished appearance in the video game which I achieved by first dry brushing over a lead belcher primer with brass. I then went back over with a light silver dry brush.

The blue armour of the Boreal Outrider was built up using several layers of Darkenhorf Nightshade wash. Silver dry-brushing was used to bring back the detail between washes and ensure the metallic look was retained. As the Boreal Knight’s attacks feature the Frost status effect in game, I felt this would be a good opportunity to try out some technical paints. I used Valhallan Blizzard from GW to add frosting to the sword blade and some of the armoured joints. On the base i tried to recreate the frost shadow that these knights generate in the video game.

The Core game includes a second Main Boss battle, this time against the Dancer of the Boreal Valley, from Dark Souls III.

The Dancer’s armour was painted using the same simple techniques I used for the other armoured models in the set. The predominant colour here is Iron Breaker with a Runefang Steel highlight. The ornate armour sections were picked out in Balthazar Gold and Genenna Gold.

The Dancers cape was a little trickier to deal with than the armour. My initial attempt using brushes looked terrible! So much so that I resprayed the cloak areas and did the whole thing again using an airbrush. I was much happier with the airbrushed result.

This was the only figure in the set that I ‘tampered’ with. The original pose was bizarre, the figure looking completely off balance. This combined with my poor painting on the cape led to me pulling the model apart (these models are pre-assembled), cutting off one of the legs and reposing it the best I could!

The boss encounter at the end of Anor Londo (DSI), is one of the most iconic of the series, the double boss combo that is ‘Dragonslayer Ornstein and Executioner Smaug’. This is the first of two Boss battles included in the Core game. 

This was a very simple colour scheme, achieved by dry brushing over a Lead Belcher undercoat with Vallejo Brass. I used washes of GW Ogryn flesh to add warmth to the metallic finish. The Soft Tone helped define some of the details and also brought a slightly grittier feel to the models.