Stats:
No. of players: 1-4
Amount of time to play: 60-90 min (depending on the scenario and number of players)
Age requirements: 10+
Set-up time: 5-15 min

The Journey to the North is a large expansion for Legends of Andor. It adds new legends, new boards and new game mechanics.

Journey to the North Expansion Description:

If you have not played Legends of Andor you can read my review and overview to understand the gameplay. This rest of this post will assume you know how to play and will focus on the new things added in the Journey to the North expansion.

The new legends occur while the heroes sail through the islands north of Andor. There are new rules for sailing the ship and adding equipment to it.

On you turn you may sail the ship as a move action. You move a different number of spaces depending on the direction you want to move and based on the current wind card. The wind card changes everyday so even though you can move north 2 spaces for one hour the first day that might change to 3 spaces for an hour on the second day. It also costs an hour to get on or off the boat.

If the boat is on the pier space, you can buy a ballista, second mast or figurehead. To use the ballista or figurehead you must be in those spaces on the boat board. You are free to move to the different spots on the boat on your turn but you may not switch spots in the middle of combat. The upgrades help you fight and move around the board.

From the boat you can attack adjacent creatures whether they are on land or in the sea. There are some new challenging creatures included in this expansion.

You cannot use the dwarf in this expansion’s legends. But a new hero, the sea warrior, has been added to take his place. For players that own the New Heroes expansion there is a section dedicated to explaining how to play with them or with 5 or six heroes in Legends of the North.

This expansion features a new bard track. The bard starts new adventures on space 4 and each sunrise he moves back based on the number of creatures on land spaces. When you defeat creatures you can take fame instead of willpower or gold. If the bard ever reaches space 0 you lose.

The game’s difficulty may be adjusted by adding in a bard character that helps you gain fame or by using northern wells. The new wells replace those from the original game and give you even more bonuses.

A soundtrack may be downloaded from http://legendsofandor.com/bonus-material/soundtrack-into-the-north if you’d like some music to help immerse you in your journey north of Andor.

You should be aware that this is not a stand-alone expansion. You need the base game to play this expansion.

A Quick Review of Journey to the North:

Journey to the North is a fun addition to the Legend of Andor series. It ups the difficulty and adds new challenges for your group to face.

The components for this expansion are well done like those in the rest of the series. The maps, hero boards and new 3d standee figures look great. The rulebook is an easy read, has helpful examples and is laid out well.

This expansion adds Legends 7 through 10. Like those in the base game they are full of options and variable outcomes. You will want to play through all of them.

I like that you can adjust the difficulty of the Legends and that it is compatible with the previously released small expansions.

Journey to the North is another really nice expansion for Legends of Andor. It adds some fun new mechanics and adds to the replay value of this fun series. If you own Legends of Andor and want to try some new adventures, pick this up.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 3 out of 6
Luck 5 out of 6
Player Interaction 4 out of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 4 out of 6
Fun 5 out of 6
Overall 5 out of 6