‘Wabbit Wampage’ Takes the Classic Rabbit vs. Farmer To The Extreme
There’s nothing I could say about ‘Wabbit Wampage’ that would draw your attention more than the box art. But I’ll do my best, Doc!
Bugs Bunny is one of the most recognizable characters of all time. His influence can be found in all media. He’s a staple of American culture.
His antics and pranks are so ingrained in animation that this slapstick, violent genre persists to this day. And it all started with his debut in 1940.
Enter Wabbit Wampage
Fast forward to 1985 and not much has changed. People still love seeing a rabbit use excessive violence upon humans for the sake of stealing their carrots. But now things are, admittedly, a little more over the top.
How to Play
Wabbit Wampage (and its sequel Wabbit Wevenge) is something of a simplified asymmetrical wargame. It’s got hand management and changing season mechanics.
One player plays as the Farmer and the others are Rabbits. The goal for all players is to have the most victory points by the end of the year.
The game takes place over a year. Each season offers different options for earning points: collecting carrots, attacking the enemy or fully destroying buildings. And there are plenty of tools, allies, and vehicles to help you along the way.
The game board is sectioned into multiple areas. Each has a different function. Some even have items and vehicles to be snatched up.
Each token has stats which dictate its abilities. See below, from the upper left and going clockwise, you’ll see the starting location, combat capability, movement, and health. Not every token has every stat type.
In addition to tokens around the board, players have a hand of 3 cards to use. Some of these are Mail Order, meaning the player must send out for them at the Mailbox, then waiting to receive them next turn.
Others are Critter cards, which act as allies. Some are more like trap cards.
On the bottom of the game board is a track which marks the current season. During the spring, players earn points for plowing fields. This leads the way into harvesting carrots during the summer, which also earns points.
The fall and winter is when things get wild. Players get points for attacking each other and for destroying buildings. Combat uses a simple dice roll comparison with any modification from items and tools.
Credit to calendale for the image from this video which gives a great overview of the game.
Buildings must be damaged multiple times before they are fully destroyed. But once they are, the rabbits gain points as listed.
If the building survives the winter, however, the farmer gets half the listed points instead. Once the year is up, whichever player has the most points wins the game!
Final Thoughts
I love this game. The theme alone is enough to draw me in. I grew up watching Bugs Bunny so this is right up my alley.
On top of that, the gameplay is really solid. It offers multiple paths to victory and lots of equipment options without getting too bogged down with number-crunching.
If you can get your hands on a copy, it’s bound to be a great time– no matter your audience.
Thanks for reading!
