Which is Greater? Episode 12: Blood Rage vs Rising Sun

Weep, noble warriors, for Ragnarok is here! But who better to face it with than Eric Lang? Or at least his games. Blood Rage faces off against Rising Sun in the greatest battle of all: Which is Greater?

This is the final episode of Season 2! Keep an eye out on Twitter for news of future episodes. Don't worry, they'll be along soon!

[CreakingShelves]

If you want some more detailed thoughts on Rising Sun than we could fit into the video, Matt wrote up a review on the blog:

[richardtrout]

Love the 'Which is Grater' series, great work at the fresh approach, fun delivery, and good analysis.

[steste]

Rising Sun over Blood Rage.
Rising Sun is much more sofisticated and strategic in play, such a perfect game! Top game.

[stefanopaolini]

There were some mistakes in the rules in Rising Sun, have you played it enough to judge it? I doubt, basing on the mistakes. And I am sure about it if you say there is no strategy in forming alliances, those are a huge way for balancing the game

[samuelvimes]

I think I might prefer Rising Sun with full player count, but Blood Rage scales super well at a lower player count. Both games play different enough to justify having in your collection though. Blood Rage's minis are amazing. The ones from Rising Sun are even better

[nekochen]

8:44 I think... Take Hostage is a paid mercenary work, that's why you bid for the service BEFORE battle takes place.

[Tool]

keep it up boys, It is always really enjoyable watching your videos. I see the effort you put in. You should have at least 10k subs so dont know why

[tiagoazevedosoares]

I love your videos guys. Another excelent one. Just one thing, the sound when you film from a wider perspective is really bad. Other than that, excelent! :)

[chrisw.]

How about a comparison of a couple of Rosenberg worker placements in season 3. Or maybe go all out and make a three way comparison between Agricola, Caverna and Feast for Odin?

[LeeroyPorkins]

An interesting debate would be Blood Rage vs. Starship Samurai. I own and love both Blood Rage & Starship Samurai.

[feuerhirn]

Even though I get where you‘re coming from I disagree.
Alliances are great in my opinion. Surely I can join forces random. But I risk losing territory without fighting then. Simply because my ally has one dude more standing around. Alliances always have me the feeling I need to choose carefully. Having same goals (by having a good position against other clans), great. But if my ally is benefiting more than me, the alliance was a mistake. In the end only one clan will win.

[jameshowlett]

Grater=greater, Ha, I JUST got that! 🤦🏽‍♂️

[jacobwilliams]

WHAT?!?!?! No mention of how inaccessible the card drafting is in Blood Rage? Experienced players will blow away newbies just because they know what combos are possible. Rising Sun suffers a lot less on this front.

I'm sorry guys, but you guys are just wrong. Rising Sun is the FAAARRR superior game. Anyway, another good video. And how properly British of you guys to have 6 episode seasons!!!

[oerthling]

Very amusing video - I enjoyed it.

But the conclusion couldn't be more wrong. ;-)

First a comparison between BR and RS compares apples to oranges - except that they are both DoaM games by Eric Lang.

Compare BR to Inis - both DoaM games where your actions are based on a draft mechanic. And Inis does this much better than BR.

RS is more subtle than BR. If somebody prefers BR because it's more easily accessible, needs less forethought and where your monsters are always just monstrous - that's fine. BR has its charms and even though I prefer Inis compared to BR, it has enough of its own charm that I eventually bought it too.

But RS is a far more interesting and deep game than BR. Your powerful dragon is fickle and might get neutralized? Indeed, why did you acquire a greedy dragon that you can't afford to pay? Or at least bluff your opponent into thinking that s/he would waste money on bidding on hostage. That's exactly what makes RS MORE interesting, not less. A 5 power dragon could easily win battles by itself - if that was all what there is to it than people would just scramble to buy the dragon first and complain that the game is unbalanced. But that power, rightfully, comes at a price. That dragon might win you an important battle, or it could become an embarrassment - depending on the consequences of the decisions you make.

And saying that this is a game about economics, but then also saying that money offered as part of a deal could never influence a decision is a weird contradiction. How often did you actually play RS?
Sure, I would like to get all the war tokens, but I can't, so I have to weigh options to make the most if it. And I'll trade a region or some move so I can optimize my way ahead.

[DatcleanMochaJo]

You read Dale Carnegie too? Good choice

[hardstyle_mmayt]

Blood rage seems a little boring. Rising sun is difficult to learn in the beginning but plays very well and is way more strategic. IMO

[TabletopGamesBlog]

About time you got on the Bloodrage vs. Rising Sun bandwagon... ;)

[SeoDragon]

Which is Greater? Episode 1: Creaking Shelves Vs Shut Up and Sit