Arrakhar's Wand

Published in ''The Dragon'' magazine, Issue #69. From the introduction: Arrakhar's Wand is a fantasy boardgame of tactics and strategy for two players. One player (the sorcerer player) hides the wand in his realm and defends it with a group of evil sorcerers who can summon the aid of demons, orcs, and ghouls. The other player (the wizard player) invades with a force of good wizards, barbarians, dwarves, and elves, seeking to locate the wand and escape with it. Before the play of the game begins, both players secretly design their forces. The board portrays the valley of the evil sorcerers, and on it the sorcerer player places the counters representing haunts (temples, ruins, and crypts), secretly recording one of them as the haunt in which the wand is hidden. The counters representing the sorcerers and their minions are then placed on the board, and on the sorcerer player's first turn they can begin summoning other evil units. The wizard player brings in the wizard units and their allies through one or more hexes along the valley border, and the struggle begins. Each side can attack with spells and by physical combat. The wizard player should usually try to strike quickly, before the sorcerer player can organize an effective resistance. Only the sorcerer player gets a steady stream of reinforcements, in the form of wandering-orc counters, but the wizard player has the advantage of special attacking bonuses. To win, the wizard player must locate the wand and remove it from the sorcerers' valley through an entry/exit hex.