Posted:  05. 05. 2022.

 

Brawl Arcane 28 is a tabletop game developed by Brett Evans @quarantine_miniatures, where spellcasters engage in arena duels. It’s currently in open beta, with updates coming every few weeks. I played my first few games with my brother last weekend, and it was as fun as I expected.



Only four models per side are required to play, so it’s easy to get into. Especiall if you already have a wizard and some critters ready. I looked through my collection it and saw I could play several mage + minions with models I already had painted. I thought hey, that’s so convenient!

Aaaand then I promptly converted and painted completely new ones, because I’m weird like that. There are seven wizard flavours to choose from as of v0.3, each coming with their own minion type, special ability, and unique spell. I made two to start with: the Necromancer and the Green Witch.



The Necromancer was converted from the wizard figure out of Wilhelminiatures Caves&Creeps set. The minions are my Wraiths. The minions in this game are super open to interpretation, which is phenomenal. For example, Necromancer’s minions are called Undead, so they can be skeletons, spirits, zombies, mummies, whatever... It’s fun to see what the game's community comes up with for their minis, there’s a lot of creativity on display.



The Green Witch was converted from my Grobnik Heavy Trooper, with a Wose’s shield for a face. The minions, called Forest Dwellers, are all converted Wodewoses I sculpted for Harwood Hobbies.



The arena is a square grid 8-12 tiles across. No measuring for movement and ranges; it’s all grid based. It’s designed to be playable on a standard chess board, if one doesn’t wish to build a dedicated arena. I wanted an arena, so we made it into a small project. I had a cork pin board and plenty of foam at hand - so my BF and I spent an afternoon building the arena, and another one painting it. The tiles are recommended 30mm squares cut with a hot wire cutter and textured by pressing crumpled aliminum foil on them. Our board is 9x11, as I somehow missed the part in the rulebook where it clearly said it’s supposed to be square. I don’t think this rectangularity messes with the gameplay, so it’s gonna stay as it is.

Terrain is also a thing, letting models hide from each other’s sight. My initial idea was to use debris from Citadel Warcry ruins, but ended up taking a bunch of simple black cubes as a more elegant solution.


My lovely assistant working the hot wire cutter.


The rules for Brawl Arcane 28 are super simple. Wizards can move around, cast various spells, and summon up to three minions each to give them a hand. Stuff they do may earn them crowd favour from the audience, which can be spent to roll for random events. Game ends when one of the mages is knocked out. Once you know the rules it can be played quite quickly. Few models per side, not much math, only d6 dice. Each type of wizard brings something new to the game, so I’m hoping to expand to a few more disciplines in the future.


Necromancer vs Green Witch. First game I managed to get my Green Witch cornered and locked in combat like a total chump.

 LoS laser in action. Line of sight is checked by drawing an invisible line between the centre of the active model’s tile and the centre of the target’s tile. If that line crosses a space that has a terrain piece on it, the target is not visible.

This match did not end well for the Green Witch.


As the rules are developed, new bits are being added - such as tournament rules, more magic disciplines, and monsters. If this game looks rad to you, check out #brawlarcane28 on Instagram, and visit the game’s webiste (HERE) for rules downloads and the Discord community link.

 
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Comments
 

Awesome round up and great read. You amazing board and terrain really adds to this. And those cubes… plainly awesome!

By 4ydra on 2022 05 05

Thanks 4ydra!

By Ana Polanšćak    on 2022 05 05

Wonderful as usual! I love your interpretations of the Green Witch!

By Fan94 on 2022 05 09

Thank you!

By Ana Polanšćak    on 2022 05 09

I love those vintage looking dice in the final photo, with the deep recessed and stained white spots. Where did you get them. Been trying to find something similar.

By The Referee on 2022 08 30

Hi The Referee,  if w’re talking about the black dice in the pics - those spots actually have little carved skulls inside. If you google for pictures of ‘skull dice’ these will pop up multiple times. It was a while ago that I bought them. I think my set came from Ali Express, but you can find them in other places (which are most likely reselling or dropshipping from Ali Express).

By Ana Polanšćak    on 2022 09 01

Awesome. I’ve seen those in several places already while searching for your dice!

By The Referee on 2022 09 02

 
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