Brickskrieg Review

Review by Joe Mealy

Now this is a bit of fun – wargaming but with Lego? (Well, not actually Lego, but you get the idea). Brickskrieg has been around for some time now, and it’s safe to say that it has quite the established fanbase: there are multiple starter sets, expansions, individual units, and a range that continues to grow – it doesn’t lack support. There are even multiple scenery kits, including bombed-out farmhouses and churches, and even the Atlantic Wall, complete with cliff-face bunkers and trench systems. So yes, this game has quite the range – but is it any good?

For this review, we were given the base set along with a softback rulebook (a physical version of the free rules available online). The starter set itself comes with everything you need to get playing: miniatures (assembly required), dice, a tape measure, a quick start guide which has links to the free PDF rulebook, and instructions for how to build the kits.

Assembly is straightforward, but it was very clear the pieces are not of the same quality as the much larger Danish plastic block company. Some pieces don’t fit quite as flush, and in some cases the connections can be loose. That being said, the builds are instantly recognisable, which is impressive given their small scale (around the 15mm mark for reference), so hats off to the design team! The set comes with matching armies - each having three tanks, five bases of infantry, and three weapons teams (anti-tank).

The game works on an ‘I Go, You Go’ activation with players rolling initiative each round. Units typically consist of squads of infantry (between five and ten – which can include heavy weapons teams) or groups of tanks. The first action in a turn is movement, with each unit having its own distance it can move.

Shooting then follows and is typically done in three stages (four if an armoured target). First: can you see the target? Check line of sight. Second: Can you hit them? Roll to hit with modifiers – moving halves the hits; long range is +1 to hit; target is in cover +1 to hit. The typical final stage of shooting is ‘can they save?’ All infantry can ‘dodge’ on a roll of 3+, or 2+ if in cover. Which isn’t for me – especially when units are in the open…

Shooting against armoured units is slightly different. After hitting, you compare the Armour value against the Gun value to determine whether the shot has penetrated. If it has, like the ‘dodge’ save, armour can then make its armour save of 4+. If these are saved, we move on – nothing to see here. If not, we then potentially move to bravery tests.

Bravery plays an important role in games of Brickskrieg. If a unit is reduced to half its strength or bails (a vehicle can be damaged or destroyed, or its crew can bail out), units then must take a bravery test – this determines whether a unit retreats, which could cause them to flee the battlefield, but at the very least will prevent them from moving or firing that turn. There are also close combat rules and further special rules for units such as aircraft and artillery.

Brickskrieg is certainly a quirky, simple, yet enjoyable wargame. If you’re looking for a wargame or range of miniatures that are rewarding to build and ready to go once built, I’d say this is well worth a look. The miniatures are instantly recognisable and scale well against each other. The rules themselves are simple too, which is a definition Brickskrieg wears with pride, so whilst there are some rules choices that seem silly, they are necessary to keep the game flowing.

Conversely, if you’re looking for something a little more complex, you can always repurpose the miniature and terrain range to other rulesets. As for me, I will certainly be revisiting Brickskrieg, as it’s a great excuse for a more relaxed wargame with friends and I’m looking forward to more games in the future.

Brickskrieg

Publisher: Brickskrieg

Pages: 28

Price: PDF free online. Starter set £69.00

https://brickskrieg.com/