Continuing our fantasy board game ladder, in which we’re highlighting games across the light, medium, and heavy spectrum that, through play, help you learn and master mechanics used across tabletop gaming—boy, that is a mouthful—we’re hitting up the medium-weight fantasy games here. These are titles that play better if you’ve some experience in board games, that combine multiple mechanics with a magical theme, or ask for more tactical and strategic considerations to win. More importantly, they’re all pretty darn fun.
Medium Fantasy Euro Games
Train games don’t have to be dry, stock manipulation affairs. Empyreal: Spells and Steam drops you into a magical, bright world and gives you, say, ghost trains or caterpillar craft to develop your railroad empire. Beyond the excellent graphic design and production quality, you’ll find a game that scales well to almost any
player count thanks to its fast, tactical rondel system, whereby your actions change every turn (and grow by your choices over the game). Racing for resources, blocking and shifting terrain, and a real zero-to-rail master feel by the end make Empyreal a great way to introduce railroad games and Level 99’s delightful designs (I considered Argent: The Consortium here but Empyreal deserves love too) to your group. Check out the expansion, too, if you want a little more complexity.
Alice in Wonderland turned into a pseudo war game? That’s Wonderland’s War’s wild pitch and one that works well in this combination of drafting and area control, where each player gets their own Wonderland superstar to control in a tea party of destiny. Over three rounds split into two parts, you’ll play a tactical draft as you zip around a massive table gaining forces, allies, and powers (but watch out for other players trying to get your goodies) before swapping to a series of point-scoring battles across Wonderland itself. The battles play by drawing chits from your personal bag, chits you’ve hopefully put there through the table draft, angling either to race for a winning score or for your opponents to get knocked out. Players not involved in an area can wager on the victor for bonuses, a fun way to keep everyone engaged. It’s a few hours of entertaining madness, and, with the deluxe edition, one of the best-looking games you’ll find.
We wrote about Orange Nebula’s Vindication a little bit ago, and its engaging mix of fantasy area control and euro mechanics remains excellent. Here you’re exploring the world, working to gain resources (and combine those resources for powerful actions), using influence and allies to confront other players or defeat powerful enemies, and come out on top as a powerful hero—or villain, you do you. Vindication is a game built for replayability, with expansions aplenty to customize to your group’s taste. And, if you prefer sci-fi, keep tabs on its re-themed cousin Vestige, due out later this year.
Medium Fantasy War Games
Not all fantasy concerns itself with elves and dragons. Some are focused on, you know, cats. Or otters. Root and its various expansions bring a horde of cute woodland critters into cutthroat conflict. Asymmetry abounds, from actions to victory conditions in this COIN-adjacent game. An excellent tutorial helps 
onboard you into this one, helping to ease you into a game that’s worthy of every weekend play. Snag the clockwork expansions if you prefer solo play to give yourself a dynamic adversary too.
Sure, it might not be hex and counter, but Tyrants of the Underdark is as brutal, strategic, and tactical as any old school war game out there. Dominion with dragons and murder, Tyrants rewards sneaky plays, spawning troops, and obliterating your enemies. Powerful cards are often worth tons of points when exiled from your deck, forcing decisions like whether you cut that red dragon early or use its power to annihilate soldiers (but risk losing its victory points). It’s fast, tight, and great fun, especially for anyone familiar with Dungeons and Dragons.
While War of the Ring remains a pinnacle of fantasy war gaming (a preview, perhaps, of the next piece in this series), its recent card game iteration streamlines play, removing the board and miniatures for a dueling play mat. It’s also been redesigned to hit four players instead of two, while retaining the same epic Lord of the Rings conflict. Shadow, Free Peoples, all your favorites are here to help Frodo or conquer various battlegrounds. Expansions add more variety and coop modes too, making this a much easier way to enjoy the war for Middle-earth.
Medium Fantasy Miniatures Games
If 40K has Kill Team, Age of Sigmar has War Cry, a skirmish style miniatures war game set in Warhammer’s fantasy universe. The two play differently, as one would expect when you exchange lasers for magic, but the end result is the same: a fast-paced, mission-oriented skirmish between wildly different factions. The narrative
campaign elements, letting you name and develop stories for your team based on what they do in battle, give you another reason to get this game to the table again, and again, and again.
Gods, Monsters, and Minions slug it out in the Mythic Battles series, a skirmish game where force composition and exploding dice lead to fantastic stories across, so far, Greek and Norse mythologies. Egypt’s coming soon too. You’ll draft (or randomly draw) a team of, say, Thor, Fenrir, and a bunch of valkyries and attempt to gather shards or slaughter Loki, Odin, and Ymir before they do the same to you. Excellent models (no assembly required), easy to follow rules, and endless gameplay make Mythic Battles an easy choice for an afternoon of tactical battle.
Bigger in scope than the other two and detailed here, Games Workshop’s Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game overcomes its title to immerse you in The Lord of the Rings from a god’s eye view. Various starter sets pull you into iconic battles, letting you finally deliver Saruman and Sauron the victories they’ve long deserved over those piddly humans and their worthless hobbits. Well-crafted and less difficult to learn than many bigger miniatures war games, Middle-earth is a great starting point for diving into full army miniatures war games.
Medium Fantasy Campaign Games
Medium-weight fantasy campaign gaming is a crowded category, as is its heavier brethren. Kinfire Chronicles understands this and so gives you a design that makes magic while keeping it easy to play. You’ll have up to four unique characters, playing through battles and scenarios all housed in a colorful book. It’s challenging, 
engrossing, and different from what you’ve done before (and, if you have too many miniatures to paint already, there’s a standee version).
Gloomhaven and Frosthaven get lots of love, but Jaws of the Lion, with its cheaper price point, cohesive narrative, and book-based map design (since adopted as an option for Frosthaven) is the best way to try out Gloomhaven’s hand-based system. Your unique characters will use or discard your cards to get around the map and bop enemies, but running out is the same as suffering an untimely demise, so strategy is paramount. Try this one first and, if it clicks, you’ll have many hours of great gaming to come with its big brothers.
The Sleeping Gods series presents a compelling evolution of the skill check game, where you’ll develop a crew to explore a fascinating world, attempting to solve mysteries and grow in your abilities while following a fun story. These games are great for groups that want more narrative focus, with less time spent grinding through one combat encounter after the next. They’re also great for solo players or small groups, where it’s easier to sink into the story and play frequently. If you’ve never tried a narrative game at this level, Sleeping Gods or its sequel make for an enchanting experience.
All of the games above are fantastic in their own right, but are also fun stepping stones into the next piece in this series, which elevates fantasy-themed tabletop gaming to more layered rules, longer experiences, or more competitive play. As ever, a game’s difficulty isn’t the point – what matters is whether you and your group are enjoying yourselves – with the games above, that’s all but guaranteed.
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