1490 Doom: First Test Game

 

Myself and Sophie went over to see Chris 'The Fabricator' a few weeks ago to test out Beur Games' 1490 Doom Ruleset. It's been something of an indie darling since its release and is one of several resurgent games with a decisively grim dark atmosphere. Inspired by older titles like Mordhiem and more recent major successes like Mork Borg and Trench Crusade, 1490's atmosphere is indicative of the sludgey dark fantasy genre's oppressive atmosphere combined with slick production quality.  I find the combination of 80s punk zine aesthetic and modern professional design very appealing. 

As for the game itself, the primary narrative thrust is that in the year 1490, a deadly miasma called the 'creeping death' has settled across the world. The majority of the population dies from this mysterious, deadly fog, with the remainder developing rebreathers to stay alive in this apocalyptic time. Even with this some banks of the dog are so caustic that they will still cause death.  This essentially means a 'King of the Hill' style scenario with survivor bands attempting to climb to the highest point on the board to get above the fog. 

Each player controls 3 figures, with players assigning a class out of a generous dozen or so different options and selecting options like climbing gear, throwables, and other expendable items 

My warband, the 'Dread Harvest', from left to right, an Assassin, Executioner, and Reaver

Chris' warband the 'Hallowed Hand'

Sophies warband 'The Bread Line' 

1490 is played normally on a small round table with a lot of terrain, defined as about the size of a dinner plate. For our purposes, we went with a 2x2 board and a scattering of castle terrain to give us some interesting verticality.

The warbands set out into the labarythine ruins of the castle. working aggressively to get to good positions to gain height for later in the game.  VP is scored at the end, and is primarily centered around who has models the highest up on the board, and how much vitality (health) each player has remaining in active play. 

The nature of the games setup lends itself to some cool tight aesthetics of adventurers exploring toppled ruins and castles. Which is a big win in my book

Chris' warband scrabbles around courtyards of the eastern castle looking for a way up to the top of the center tower

My assassin, whom started on the opposite side of the board from the rest of the Dread Harvest makes his way up to the southern battlements and begins heading to meet up with the Reaver to ascend to the top of the complex.

Sophie's warband works its way forward at ground level, and begins attempting to use ladders and grappling hooks to ascend at different points of the structure. 

The warbands begin meeting and violence ensues as the Dread Harvest's assassin pushes Sophies' scout off her ladder, and confrontation is had at the centre tower and north western gate between the Dread Harvest and the Hallowed Hand.

The clash of steel between my executioner and Chris' bulwark goes against me, and the executioner finds himself reduced to a gory pile in the face of his foes attacks. 

Things start getting tense at cloud level as members of each warband begin a showdown at the towers atrium, with throwables and the crash of blades signalling the beginning of the end game. 

In the final turn, everyone had made their way to the top of the tower and a frantic rush to push each other off the highest tower began. 

Chris ended up carrying the day by only a small VP margin over Sophie and myself. 

Overall it was a really enjoyable experience, that reminded me in some ways of Mordhiem, which is of course no bad thing.  It does make me consider how much versatility the ruleset has to it, so many of its abilities and mechanics focus on climbing and the ascent to higher levels for positional advantage, that it may be limited in regards to some of the more specific narratives that we tend to craft. That being said, its a great 'beer and pretzels' game, that can be played very quickly. Making it a perfect option for midweek gaming. That plus the small model count and limited space needed for the table means that I can heartily recommend the title for anyone interested. 

I think, if you are transitioning into the world of tabletop wargames from more traditional TTRPG's you may find this a particularly fun one for its limited model count and slick app support. Its certainly more approachable that larger battles games like Warhammer, or Dragons Rampant. With a tight focus that means more game, with more people. 

  Thanks for Reading! 

-Your Favorite Madman-