Designers: Anthony & Nicole Amato
Publisher: Smirk & Dagger Games
Artists: Anthony Amato, Leah Fuhrman
2-4 players  |  40 min. |  ages 10+  |  MSRP $45 | BGG Entry
Time to teach & learn: 10 minutes

Game Synopsis

The Boomburg Battlesports Arena is home to the wildest televised tank competition in all the land. Animal crews from far and wide come here to compete for the coveted Carnage Cup. 

Captain Rosie Rhino pounds a path of destruction with her ramming charge. Captain “Scrappy” and team Trash Pandas can use anything as ammo, including their own tank. Captain Hare-Brain’s tank can hop its way out of trouble. The Sloth Brigade leaves the fighting to others and searches the battlefield for gold. Tiberius Rex of the Thunder Lizards doesnt even need a tank to cause major damage. Wander too close, and he’ll chomp your tank in two! 

The battlefield is littered with buildings which could contain weapons or conceal traps. Blow up tanks, gather gold, or gain glory to collect the most medals over a few brutally short and crazy rounds. The tank team with the most medals will cement their legacy as champions on the latest season of… Boom Patrol!

Why We Love Boom Patrol

You can turn any tabletop into a venue for strategy, mayhem and fun with Boom Patrol. Under the hood the game teaches the essential elements of a tactical wargame, but the game goes out of its way to take a light hearted approach. The art and theme and attitude of the game remain inviting and accessible to even the most casual of players. “Relax,” Boom Patrol says. For the next half hour, it’s ok if you blow up your friends (or yourself!) in new and hilarious ways. You can work out your aggression within the confines of this silly cardboard battlefield. 

The most remarkable part about Boom Patrol is that it marries this silliness to serious strategic and tactical decisions - all borne from a deep and abiding love of traditional miniature wargames. you have programmed movement with cards and ingenious and easy to use templates. You have line of sight and range issues to consider if shooting. The little turrets on your cartoony tanks even rotate, so you learn about firing arcs. You have variable initiative (turn order) each round, which will influence where you go and who you try to shoot or ram. And because you can accrue victory points (medals) in different ways, you will want to consider a general strategy as the battle evolves. 

Boom Patrol is a fantastic synthesis of serious and silly - each one enhancing the other to create more fun than either could on their own. This gestalt is set in motion by great game design. It takes a special creative and crazy brain to find a way to make the stodgy and hidebound world of wargames with minis into an accessible and chaotic romp that plays in less than an hour. 

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Congratulations to designers Anthony & Nicole Amato

More information on Boom Patrol at: Smirk & Dagger Games

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