Raven is the first games outing for Nottingham based company Harlequin Miniatures. The company has a good track record for producing quality fantasy miniatures at very reasonable prices, at a scale that’s consistent with those of other larger games companies (mainly Games Workshop). A lot of Harlequin miniatures can be found gracing Warhammer armies all over the world, so it was inevitable that Harlequin would seize the moment and release their own fantasy mass combat rule system Raven.

The credits list for Raven looks like that of a movie, with five authors being credited for the systems creation and the core rules. Those credits include Tony Ackland well known and respected fantasy artist and sculptor who cut his teeth during the early years of Games Workshop, when the hobby was still in its infancy.

The game itself is in the form of a softbound book, with just over 140 pages. The book follows the usual format for this type of system, history of the world and its inhabitants, the core rules, army lists, and an introductory scenario. Comparisons with Games Workshops Warhammer Fantasy Battle were bound to be made, and the Raven system has on many points something more than its larger rival to offer and in some cases somewhat less.

Filled throughout with excellent black and white illustrations by Tony Ackland and Pete Knifton, both no strangers to the world of game art, and these help flesh out the rules and look perfectly in place. The game rules are simple to play, but a major pain to learn. It takes a while to get to grips with the systems mechanics but once learned its quite playable.

Like its counterpart Warhammer the Raven system is filled with lavish fantasy races, none of which are completely unique to the system having appeared in one form or another in different systems over the past ten years or so. All the usual fantasy races are present, Orcs, Goblins, Dwarves, Elves, and Humans all make an appearance along with Undead and Kazar (lizardmen) and Ver’men (ratmen similar to WFB’s Skaven.) and the similarities to other versions of these creatures is evident. But as they say nothing is new under the sun and creating a completely new race is a very rare thing these days.

Before you start to play Raven you must go through the Pre Game phase. This consists of each player personalising their forces by assigning skills and strategic capabilities to their heroes and troops. This takes a little time, but adds greatly to the system and is one of the highest points of the game. By using the strategic capabilities you can gain advantages during the battle and can if used rightly turn a potential defeat into a crushing victory. Some of the capabilities allow you to set up your troops in differing ways, allow you to ambush enemy troops or even to fortify your own position making it harder to attack.

You are allowed one capability for ever leader you have in your battle force, and an extra capability for each strategist level your leaders possess. These abilities can only be used once per game but if you have a large number of leaders in your army then there is no stopping you from taking the same ability more than once. Certain of the abilities can only be used at the beginning of the game as they affect the way that troops are deployed, but most can be played at any time during the game in either players turn, adding a level of deeper strategy to the system and forcing players to think out their next moves.

If you are an experienced wargamer then you will perhaps notice that Raven uses a system very similar to DBA or DBM the tactical wargames set in the ancients or medieval periods. This is no surprise when you learn that two of the games writers Pete Haines and Chris Robinson are both trophy winning champions at both systems. Instead of the usual standard approach of other games such as Warhammer, Raven uses a mutli figure per base system, with 2-3 standard size miniatures being mounted on a base. This means that ranks of figures look a lot bigger than the normal affair.

The game uses a sequence of turns that allows each player to move, resolve melee and shooting and a magic phase. Also a communication phase as been included to allow commanders to take into account the ever changing battlefield and issue new orders to their subordinates.

The mechanics of the game are at first glance a little complex. All the movement values for the troops are given in millimetre’s rather than inches, keeping with the demise of the imperial measurement system over here in the UK a while back. But once you have your head around the movement its not to difficult and you could always change it to inches if you so wanted. If you want to change the facing of your troops, it must be paid for from their movement allowance, and as facing plays a very important part in the system you have to master this at an early stage to stand a better chance of fully utilising your forces.

The combat system is a little off putting at first glance. The mechanics revolve around the standard D6 system and to resolve a combat you add or subtract any modifiers for your troop type, terrain, then rolling a D6 and the higher number wins the melee. The magic system is very similar, with only a few differences, and takes a while to get the hang of. This is one of the biggest flaws I have found in the system. All troop types have certain advantages and flaws that come into effect in combat, but the descriptions of these merits and flaws are very vague at best.

A lot of numbers accompany the troop lists and these are not explained in enough detail and the younger gamer, or those with problems with numbers may lose themselves very easily. Harlequin are due to release their next game system based on the Dr Who TV show, in September, and I am assured by Dean Edwards at Harlequin it will use a better thought out system.

The troop types are a little too limited for the game and could have been open-ended allowing more freedom in creating armies. It’s a real shame that some of the mechanics are so complex in Raven. The system has lots of potentials and could have been a serious contender to Warhammer. But it wasn’t written to compete with that system. Although a lot of the races are a little too similar to there counterparts in Warhammer, like the Ver’men being created by the Kzar lizardmen, a rehash of the Skaven being born from the errors of the Slann in Warhammer? But as I said there’s nothing new under the sun.

All in all, Raven is a good little system trying hard to get out. Harlequin are producing a set of rules errata that will be placed on their web site when its up and running or can alternately be obtained direct from the company. I suggest if your looking for an alternative fantasy system then give Raven a try, stick with the rules and don’t despair as you will get the hang of it sooner rather than latter.

Harlequin Miniatures can be reached at:

Harlequin Miniatures U.K.

Unit S3, 632 Radford Road

Basford, Nottingham

NG7 7EX ENGLAND

Phone: +44 115 9422289 (add 0 in the UK)

Fax: +44 115 9422298 (add 0 in the UK)

E-mail: vaughan@harlequin.demon.co.uk

Harlequin Miniatures U.S.

P.O. Box 50081

Amarillo, TX 79159-0081

AMERICA

Phone: (806) 372-1268

Fax: (806) 372-1361

E-mail: TFG@Genie.com

All images are © Harlequin Miniatures LTD. All rights reserved.