BoLS Overview: Gates of Antares Rulebook
Join us as we take a look at the new Rulebook for Gates of Antares – the latest from Warlord Games!
Hey BoLS Readers, AdamHarry back with another Overview! This time I’m focusing my lens of concentration at the new game from Warlord Games: Beyond the Gates of Antares. I’ve already unboxed their starter and now I want to run through the Rulebook. I touch very lightly on the ruleset and mostly focus on the rest of the “stuff” in the book, So check it out:
via Warlord Games
Gates of Antares Rulebook $48.00
At 260-pages, this full-colour hardback tome contains everything you need to know in order to get started exploring the brand new Science Fiction universe from the creator of Warhammer 40,000…
Beyond the Gates of Antares lies a universe vast beyond comprehension, a universe of human endeavour stretching eons into a dark and turbulent past, a universe of embattled civilisations possessed of unimaginable power. Across millions of worlds rival empires are locked in a struggle for dominance, driven by intellects that are as much machine as human, the omniscient integrated machine intelligence of a society and a time very different to our own.
This is the universe of the Seventh Age of Humanity and the setting for our game. Our game is called Beyond the Gates of Antares because that is where our adventures will take us. We will travel through Antarean dimensional gateways to the galaxy spanning empires of the PanHuman Concord and Isorian Senatex, and further to the myriad worlds of the Determinate and beyond. We will board the glittering space borne cities of the Vardari, the great mercantile powers of Antarean space, and we will confront foes as implacable as the Ghar and as merciless as the Renegade NuHu Shards.
Beyond the Gates of Antares was originally conceived as a game and that is where our journey begins. However, our game is only the first step upon a path that promises to take us to new stars and undiscovered worlds which inhabit a living, breathing universe, and one that we intend to realise fully in the form of campaigns, background expansions and – in time – much more in order to explore the many different aspects of our setting.
AdvertisementBook Contents:
- A break-down of all of the game rules, easing you into the new system
- An extensive Terrain section, outlining dozens of different terrain types to be found in the Antarean universe
- An Armoury section, featuring entries (and blueprints!) of the various weapon technologies used in Antares
- More advances rules for using Mounted Units, Vehicles, Buildings and more
- A section detailing just a handful of the different creatures which inhabit Antarean space
- 6 Matched Scenarios, and 6 Narrative Scenarios
- Full Army Lists for 6 factions
- A detailed timeline of Antarean Space, including Star Map and dedicated sections for each specific faction
- Quick Reference Sheet, Weapons Summary, and Templates Section to the rear of the book
As I was flipping through this book I couldn’t help but think about a few things. The first thing that came to me was, “the production values are great for this product.” I’ve done more than a few unboxings and this book, as far as materials goes, is up at the top. It’s hardback, looks nice and the paper is not the cheap stuff. Plus it’s heavy which is a sign of a dense book. Thankfully the table of contents is laid out very well so it’s easy to find things – another plus in my opinion!
The next thing that came to me was just how much “stuff” was crammed into this book. Not only did you have ALL the backstory for EACH of the 6 factions, you also had full army lists, rules and an Armory section! Basically this is a fully flushed out universe – and it’s got a solid core to grow from!
Another thing that jumped out at me was all of the little things that really add to the experience of playing in this universe. For example, I love it when I see a map of the star systems or of a planet. It just shows the creators of the game went that extra step of mapping it out on paper to make it a “real” place – like you could actually visit those places and be able to find your way around.
This book really reminded me of some of the early editions of Warhammer 40,000 in terms of layout. And it makes sense because Rick Priestly wrote it! The fact that you have a single tome with everything you need to play (rules and army construction wise) combined with the history and the “why” of the setting is great. I don’t think it’s possible for some of the larger games systems out there to start over or reset to this format, but it works perfectly for a new game and has an added benefit of being something you can grow the rest of your game from.
Overall, I like this rulebook. I think Gates of Antares is a solid game system and this Rulebook does a good job of legitimizing and solidifying it as a well thought-out game system. As a side note, I’m building and painting up the Ghar from the Starter Box Set. I mentioned this already so I won’t rehash that but I wanted to say it’s been a breeze. I can’t wait to start playing this game now!
Gates of Antares gets the Thumbs-up from me! But you should go check it out and form your own opinion…and then let us know in the comments below! AdamHarry, OUT!
