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One of Alderac Entertainment Groups earliest expansions to their legendary Smash Up series, Monster Smash see’s the introduction of Giant Ants, Mad Scientists, Vampires and Werewolves. The Smash Up series is one of those games where you feel absolutely anything goes, and the Monster Smash expansion fits incredibly well within that. Power is a big theme in these factions.
There is not a game rules overview this time, please check out my Disney Smash Up blog for a quick overview. Something to keep in mind here is that you can only play a 2-player game with this set alone. Of course, the series is completely interchangeable with everything else Smash Up so you can always “Smash” it up with another set and bring in a 3rd and 4th player.
So, what does Monster Smash bring to the series?
Giant Ants
The Giant Ants running riot through the game and very much bring a hive approach. As individual minions they are quite weak but as a collective bring a lot of additional power which can easily be moved around your minions at great speed when needed to devastating effects on your opponents. The Queen Ant is your top minion here and getting her in the game can prove invaluable as every turn she has the potential to bring more and more power counters into play. The Giant Ants play very well with most other factions.
Mad Scientists
You get exactly what you might expect here. A faction obsessed with POWER! Herr Doktor and his minions are obsessed with adding more and more power into the play. They are quite a simple faction to use bringing plenty of weight to the fight but may come unstuck against some other more cunning factions. In an out and out brawl these guys will be a major ally to you.
Vampires
The Vampires are out and out killers and they thrive over the destruction of minions, not necessarily just your opponents. Like a vampire requiring blood to survive, the Vampires grow in power with the death of minions, The Count, the top minion here gaining 1 power counter every time an opponent’s minion is destroyed. This faction will make a mess of opponent’s minions, especially if they are light of power.
Werewolves
Another faction with a heavy focus on power (I did say it was all Power in this set), but more vicious with it. They are killers and won’t just beat up the opposition over a base but will also take a few opponents minions out along the way. Your top minion, Pack Alpha, can be such an asset at base break time, adding a lot of extra power on the count up. The Werewolves are powerful from the off and will match up well against the majority of other factions.
Final Thoughts
This Monster Smash expansion is definitely worth including within your smash up series. For me, these factions do not combine well with each other. They are too similar and so your strategy to win may be quite one dimensional and predictable. Of course, that also could be unstoppable with so much power on offer. These factions will certainly combine very well with other factions and that will likely enhance their own unique abilities. For instance, the Pirates will mobilise these groups very quickly, or Zombies constantly resurrect them, as a couple of examples. I can definitely see the Werewolves combining well with the Pirates.
If you already own Smash Up content you cannot go wrong with including this expansion into your content. For me, it is not the first Smash Up set to pick up if you are new to the game and I would advise going for one of the sets that has at least 8 factions included within, then adding this set later on.
