Dark Blades
Dark Blades is a medieval fantasy wargame published in 1986 by Standard Games and Publications that is based on the "Cry Havoc" rules system. Gameplay. "Dark Blades" is a fantasy board wargame for beginners, based on the "Cry Havoc" game system. Set on the island of Labyrinthia, the game includes an account of the hero Dark Blades and his band of fellow adventurers, upon which the included scenarios and maps are based. Components include Publication history. Standard Games and Publications published the complex fantasy wargame "Cry Havoc!" in 1981, and over the next four years released a number  of supplements and expansions including "Samurai Blades", and "Siege". In 1986, Standard published "Dark Blades", designed by Chris Bayliss and Andy McKay, as an introductory wargame for players new to the hobby. Standard later published an expansion set for "Dark Blades" that included new rules, extra spell cards, terrain cut-outs, and over 20 scenarios, some of them requiring use of Standard's other "Cry Havoc" products. Reception. In the December 1986 edition of "White Dwarf" #84, Robert Neville called "Dark Blades" a good move towards "a good, simple beginner's fantasy board wargame." He thought the game was "fast  and simple to play, but has enough flexibility to cope with sophisticated manoeuvers and combatants with special powers." His one complaint about the game was how attached it was to the story about the hero Dark Blades, which he thought "drags the rest of the game with it [...] this game would be far more universal if the background wasn't there." He concluded that the game was "a good try but limited by a rather tacky background; but if you really can't wait for the real thing to come along this is for you."