Dogs of War

A board game of deception, intrigue and shifting alliances.

I gave this one a miss when it came to Kickstarter, but I was recently reminded of it by a positive review by Shut Up & Sit Down, and decided to grab it. And I’m glad I did, it’s a great little game.

Over several years, players place their captains and troops behind houses that are going to battle, in return for advantages and victory points. But players are, after all, a pack of mercenary dogs looking out for themselves, so allegiances rapidly change and anything could happen. It makes for a cutthroat game with lots of juicy decisions, backstabbing and sneakiness. Great stuff!

Yes, this production is ridiculously over-produced, with pages of unnecessary back story and ridiculously huge captain figures with insane hats. The overall visual design doesn’t really come together and ends up looking like a bit of a dog‘s breakfast, if you’ll excuse the pun. But although it could have come in a box half the size and half the cost, you can probably find it on special these days, in which case I’d definitely recommend adding it to your collection.