Alien forces have invaded and are on the move… wow, are they on the move! A handful of combat specialists, quick strategic thinking and fast reflexes are all that stand between the enemy and certain defeat!
*1-6 Players 60 mins Age 14+*
*Designers: Konstantinos Kokkinis, Marco Portugal, Sotirios Tsantilas*
*Artists: Saeed Jalabi, Stef Kopinski, Henning Ludvigsen, Mike McVey, Edgar Skomorowski*
*Publishers: Artipia Games, CMON Global Limited, Funforge*

Squad, Form Up!

I had the pleasure to finally try out CMON’s real-time, dice rolling miniatures game, Project: ELITE over these past couple of weeks and I had to ask myself, what is wrong with me? How could I be a fan of miniatures games, sci-fi themes and strategic gameplay without ever playing this well received title? Perhaps I didn’t hear about it? Maybe I came to the hobby between print runs and it wasn’t readily available? Perhaps there are thousands of new games produced each year and finding the time to play each of them is an unattainable goal and therefore I shouldn’t be too hard on myself? The simple answer is, yes!

Before I get into the crux of the game, let me begin by saying, there are only a handful of games that involve copious amounts of miniatures, dice and cards that can be set up, played and packed away within an hour or so. Project: ELITE, CMON’s reprint of the original 2016 game by the same name, is one such rare beast. It has all of the hallmarks of a big, bulky miniatures game, but with little of the grind normally associated with such titles. This means you can get it to the table more often and spend more time actually playing it than setting it up and tearing it down. So, what’s it all about?

Take Your Positions!

This is no time to take a selfie, they’re behind you!

Project: ELITE is set in a world beset by swarms of alien invaders, taking place over 8 rounds as players adopt the roles of soldiers tasked with keeping the advancing hordes at bay. As the rounds progress, wave after wave of enemies emerge and gradually gain ground. Tension mounts as the aliens make their way steadily closer to their objective, while the players desperately try to hold off until the end of the final round at which point the players will be declared the victors. What makes this game so special are its real-time elements. Player turns are conducted against a two minute timer during which players frantically roll and re-roll their action dice using the results of each roll to move, attack, secure or activate various scenario-based objectives or search for new and more powerful items to give them the edge in battle. However, there is a 6th possible side result which is where the bulk of the fun lays, the red enemy movement icon. Each time any player rolls this red result, they must move an alien figure forward one space on the board. This may not sound so bad at first, but a second is all you can afford during your all-too-brief two minutes. Stopping to move an enemy costs valuable seconds, furthermore, the time limit doesn’t allow players the luxury of thoughtful, well-executed planning. Moving the wrong alien at the wrong moment can have a flow on effect that could result in disaster for the players. Adding to this is the fact that if an alien should move into a square containing another alien, that figure in turn is pushed forward and so on should any further minis be impacted by this movement. If an alien moves into a space containing a player’s mini, that character takes one point of damage in addition to being pushed back themselves.

After the timed player turn is complete, the aliens get their turn, this phase is not timed as its a bit more involved and methodical than the players turn. Essentially it’s setting up and adjusting the game state for the next player round. New aliens are spawned and each one may take its full turn. There are three basic enemy types, biters, who move 2 spaces and attack only adjacent spaces, shooters, who move only one space but can attack any character within three spaces and runners, who, while not particularly strong at attacking, instead get to move 3 spaces on their turn making them fast and dangerous. And as if things weren’t bad enough, beyond these basic swarm enemies, there are a host of bosses to contend with. These bosses can really mess up one’s day, some may provide additional damage or movement to the aliens nearby, others will affect the player’s combat effectiveness. Each boss has their own unique way to put a frown on your face and no matter which one makes an appearance, the reaction will likely be the same, a collective groan from the players and a quick fire discussion about hw best to prioritise their actions in the next round before play returns to the timed player’s turn and the whole glorious, ugly mess continues.

I Didn’t Ask Where You Were, I Told You Where You Need To Be!

There is a ton of player interaction involved though you may not recognise it until after the player’s turn has concluded. Players will be frantically rolling their dice, declaring commands such as, “I did two damage to that boss”, or “move two aliens, quick!” This fast paced real-time gameplay is one of the many areas in which Project: ELITE shines, the game is fast, smooth and wastes no time putting players in the thick of the action.

Searching for new weapons and items isn’t just satisfying, it’s essential if players are to have any hope of victory, especially when a boss or two entrees play. Taking down swathes of enemies in a single turn while simultaneously trying to complete multiple objectives and prevent the alien advance provides a taste of the chaos of battle in a way no other game I’ve played has managed to do. Sure, there are plenty of dice heavy combat games out there, but most are turn by turn. Significant time can be spent planning and executing the perfect strategy, planning contingencies and altering plans carefully in the face of unexpected changes. The same is true of Project: ELITE, only all of that has to happen as many times as possible in the space of two minutes, while everyone else at the table is doing the same thing, but different. Player energy is always high and sometimes things can get a little tense, particularly if one or more players hasn’t paid enough attention to the enemy placement and you find the round has ended with a few aliens being uncomfortably close to their goal.

The game can be timed with the included timer, but in my opinion, is best enjoyed with the official timer app which is free to download to your preferred device. Not only does it have audio cues to let you know when certain times have been reached, but there’s thematic music to be had too, all of which serves to get the blood pumping and perhaps even serve as a subtle distraction during critical moments.

The core game includes several scenarios which could range from simply eradicating as many enemies as possible to keep from from overrunning the player’s position, to escorting recon drones to specific points on the map before returning safely home. Each scenario is merely a variation of a theme and serves primarily to give players more to think about other than just running and gunning.

Fall Back!

If I had anything negative to say about Project: ELITE it would be about the lack of enemy variety. While I understand the desire to not over complicate the game by limiting it to three distinctive creature types (not including the bosses) perhaps offering a wider variety to mix and match would have served to keep the experience fresh.

My only other problem was the sheer amount of drab on the board. The basic enemies are all the same coloured plastic, if we’re still even bothering to call beige a colour at this point. The models are not visually distinctive enough at a glance; moving a shooter when we intended to move a biter happened more than once and was responsible for at least one lost scenario during our play-throughs. While this is a small gripe for me, I think this was likely a deliberate design decision to create further confusion for the players during their timed turn. I get that it all adds to the experience, but I can’t help but think there could have been another solution, perhaps 3 shades of beige? (also, not a movie I would pay to see!) Of course, painting is an option and would curb this issue, but let’s face it, most people don’t or won’t get around to doing that, and no game should rely on that significant investment of time and effort on the part of players to improve the experience from a gameplay standpoint.

Regroup!

Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’, rollin’, rollin’…

The art and components are all of a level you’d expect from a heavy hitter like CMON. They have their formula down at this point, so you can expect to find a massive amount of plastic in the form of hero, alien and boss minis, several decks of cards, a double sided play area both sides of which are gorgeously illustrated, and dice! Lots and lots of dice! That’s right, for a change, the base game actually contains a generous number of these mysterious luck-cubes so pick up a fistful of bones and get rolling!

The included timer is a nice touch, but it’s clearly the cheapest one CMON could lay their hands on. There’s no branding to artwork of any kind on the flat-black plastic casing but they could hardly have chosen not to include it since keeping accurate time is integral to the game and not everyone may have, or want their watches or cell phones present at the table, so we’ll give them a pass on this one.

Victory or Death!

Who need combat training when we have performance-enhancing drugs!

Project: ELITE is an enormous amount of fun. I’d advise selecting your gaming group wisely though and perhaps have a backup game handy should it fall flat with your group. Our first game was over after the first round due to a combination of catastrophically poor dice results which led to the enemy overrunning us almost immediately. This seemed to be a one off however as we didn’t encounter this issue again in our subsequent games. The experience is frenetic, raucous and ultimately rewarding, particularly if you enjoy cooperative games. However, if dice rolling, numerous minis and the occasional misjudgement are not things you're open to, then you may want to explore other options. For myself personally, I’m so pleased I finally got to this one and I’m happy to say, it’s gained a permanent place in my collection. There’s just nothing else like it!

Thank you to Mighty Ape for supplying this copy of Project: ELITE for review. If you’d like to pick up your own copy you can do so here and support Above Board to bring you even more of the content you enjoy! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you’ll join us again next time!

Project: ELITE Review

Alien forces have invaded and are on the move… wow, are they on the move! A handful of combat specialists, quick strategic thinking and fast reflexes are all that stand between the enemy and certain defeat!