Review: Veteran and Dog, an expansion of Flash Point: Fire Rescue

Veteran and dog, expansion of Flashpoint: Fire Rescue
Players: 2 – 6
Publisher: Indie Boards & Cards
Year: 2013
A copy of this expansion was made available by the publisher in exchange for this review.

On this blog, we’ve reviewed Flash Point Fire Rescue in the past and it’s a great game. For the continuation of this review, we assume you’re familiar with the game Fire Rescue. If not, check it out here. It was one of the first reviews on this blog!

The dog and the veteran

Another one of the expansions from Flash Point: Fire Rescue and it features two additional roles, a role card, and twp miniatures. These roles can be selected at the beginning of the game or if people wish to change crewmembers later. The new roles add more diversity, as each character brings a unique skillset to the game. And you can now play as a non-human companion!

The veteran has 4 AP per turn and has the ability to dodge explosions. He doesn’t just grant himself this boost, but also affects the other characters around him. The other characters can benefit from his experience, as they have an additional Action Point to spend. As a result, the gameplay changes, and people tend to move and work more as a team, in order to receive the extra point. As some characters have 3 or 4 AP to spend every turn, they benefit more from this than characters that have more AP to spend every turn.

The dog is the most unique character in the game so far. The dog has 12 AP and can save up to 6 of them per turn. The dog moves as a normal character, but can also reveal POI in adjacent spaces, drag people (for 4 AP) or squeeze through damaged walls if no victim is dragged along. However, these are also the only actions a dog can take. For example, the dog cannot drive the vehicles or chop walls. So the dog is used only for saving victims, but has a huge energy boost in order to do so. The 12 AP is a lot and can navigate most of the map in a single turn. Even moving victims goes faster than with a regular character. The dog is geared towards a certain task and does that extremely well. And everyone loves to play as the dog!

The dog is most unique in their skillset compared to the other characters released so far. The veteran is most unique in terms of gameplay, as he alters the way other characters interact and behave as the game progresses. It’s a small expansion, and adds only characters to the game. It increases the replay ability of the game, although not as much as one of the maps expansions. If you’re looking for additional roles, or miniatures, for the game, then certainly consider this expansion.