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Game Info
Year
2015
Collection
Mechanic profile
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Vibe profile
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Description
Description from the publisher:
Villainous rats have allied with vicious hunting birds to pillage the humble mouse settlement across Meanderfield. But look! Brave mice, mounted on starlings and blue jays, swoop in to wage war against this evil alliance! The Downwood Militia soars into action against the Vermin Raiders!
Plaid Hat Games proudly presents Tail Feathers, the exciting new miniature skirmish game by our very own Jerry Hawthorne set in the beloved world of Mice and Mystics. Soar across the table, send your troops on dangerous missions, lock beaks with opposing birds, and defend your nest!
Featuring the beautiful hand-sculpted miniatures by Chad Hoverter Mice and Mystics fans have come to love, Tail Feathers raises the stakes with 13 dutiful ground troops, 5 headstrong birds that tilt for launching and turning, plus 5 daring pilots. Players will recreate the famous battles for aerial supremacy that shaped the Mice and Mystics world.
Outwit and outfly your opponent in stand-alone scenarios, or play a full campaign and see your units gain skill from one battle to the next.
Tail Feathers is a stand-alone game, not a Mice and Mystics expansion, but you can use your Mice and Mystics: Sorrow and Remembrance miniatures in Tail Feathers right out of the box.
Tail Feathers offers cinematic gameplay and a fresh, whimsical setting for tabletop skirmish gaming. Players must balance the use of both flying and ground units to achieve victory. Here are some highlights:
Compatibility! If you already own Mice and Mystics, you're in luck! Tail Feathers includes cards which allow you to use your Mice and Mystics figures in Tail Feathers! Bam!
Story driven campaign! Tail Feathers includes a scenario book with story rich scenarios all designed to be played either as both stand-alone experiences or linked together as a campaign.
Unique and challenging flight system! Tail Feathers includes 5 beautiful bird miniatures that are mounted on a special flight stand that allows the birds to 'tilt'. This tilting is a mechanism used to determine your flight direction, but the skill of effectively maneuvering your birds is up to you!
Everything you need! No empty box here. Tail Feathers comes with enough content for two players to field fully-realized, battle-ready forces, as well as cards that allow you to utilize your Mice and Mystics: Sorrow and Remembrance figures as Tail Feathers ground troops right away.
Tail Feathers expands the Mice and Mystics universe, introducing fans new and old to the battles on birds that secured peace and safety for the Downwood Forest. Tail Feathers' innovative game system will provide hours of fun and excitement in the world of Mice and Mystics.
Featured Videos
Review
Tail Feathers - Overview
Rules Teach
Tail Feathers - Campaign Rules and More
Ask a Rules Question
All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 5
This page: 5
Sentiment:
pos 5 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–5 of 5
Video BGxkpkkRnF0
Watch It Played Discussion at 4:40 sentiment: positive
video_pk 65261 · mention_pk 158898
Click to watch at 4:40 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Miniatur tactical gameplay
- Deceptive mission play
- Gorgeous miniatures
- Streamlined and simpler than Attack Wing
- Interesting bird tilting and flight pattern mechanics
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Mice on birds fighting against rats in a dying forest.
- A forest where rats are trying to invade a new forest defended by mice.
Comparison games
- Star Wars: Attack Wing
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Flight pattern mapping — Players must decide the tilt of their birds at the beginning of each round to map flight patterns.
- Miniature Combat — A miniature tactical game involving mice on birds fighting rats.
- Mission-based objectives — Ground units try to complete missions while birds try to invade and stop them. Decoy missions can be used.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- hey everybody Welcome to watch play my name is Rodney Smith and this is Isaac mea games hi Rodney how you doing Isaac I am doing fantastic you know what there's a problem there's a problem I tweeted pictures of the products on this table that we're about to look at and then I just got a bunch of questions well like people like our stuff they want to talk about our stuff questions I don't have answers to and I'm hoping I answer correctly yes we're blaming you
- and this is the first time that he's able to do it without another license and pach and so it's all robbed out here in this game it's just amazing and a very different animal from R Legacy I know I did a play test of vtg conon which is very fun to do this earlier iteration but still very different St play very engaging really Drew Us in I think you obviously people are excited about it and I think there's good reason to be very much so and there's something else to be excited about on this table yes yes yeah
- ashes is taking everything that I loved about of Competitive Gaming when I was in middle school and high school and early on and just kind of giving my own twist to things kind of fixing the problems that I saw in the gaming gaming and also giving players the ability to have a ton of different options in one box that isn't going to break the B and gives them lots of cool different things that they can do that will just create lots of fun and memorable moments for them and their friends can't wait to see the final version
- this is just a box just like SE it's just a box it's just a mackup box all of these that we just saw here today are mackup boxes The final products have yet not yet been produced but they will be very soon we're expecting tail feathers hopefully before the end of the year we're aiming to try to have it you guys by Christmas big tee you're just a big teas yes but we love it we love it
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video G_lVl3EZ-8c
watch it played Review at 0:21 sentiment: positive
video_pk 65227 · mention_pk 158857
Click to watch at 0:21 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Full instructional video to come
- Component overview provided
- Customizable forces and scenarios
- Unique flight path system
- Missions add another layer to gameplay
- Ground units can be used
- Compatible with My Mystics
- Grudge tokens for defeated birds
- Veteran tokens for ground units
- Structures can be built
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Combat between flying and ground troops made up of birds, mice, and other creatures
- Treetops
Comparison games
- My Mystics
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action cards — Players have action cards that provide special additional abilities, activated by spending cheese.
- Combat — Combat is resolved using Dice and the stats of the combatants with unblocked hits resulting in wounds. When a bird is wounded you take a number of tail feathers equal to the number of wounds it received and then drop them from about 2 to 3 in behind the wounded Target. These floating feathers create obstacles to line of sight for a couple of turns and give the rattled condition to Riders who fly through this Carnage from a previous battle.
- Conditions — Figures can receive conditions like becoming rattled or being set on fire. Nests can also be set on fire.
- Flight path templates — Birds use flight path distances determined by combining distance templates. Players declare a combination of templates based on their move value.
- Mission selection — Players assign figures to missions that they secretly select at the start of each round. These missions are placed face down on the battlefield where players can attempt to fly to and interfere with them. If a mission survives the round it's revealed at the end and resolved.
- objective tokens — Tokens are placed on the battlefield to be collected or used during the game, influencing player choices.
- Resource bidding — Cheese is gained and spent when bidding on turn order. A full cheese wheel can be used to revive defeated units.
- Structures — Structures like a Ballista can be built and utilized by ground units for devastating attacks.
- Unit customization — The game comes with unique bird sculpts, each assigned a unit card and rider. Players can combine these to create uniquely identified units. Ground units can also be added.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- In a future video I'll be providing a full instructional video for the two or more player game tail feathers designed by Jerry Hawthorne and published by pla Hat games but in the meantime I thought some of you might enjoy a look at the components and a quick overview of how the game works
- Tail feathers is a skirmish battle game where two players will orchestrate combat between flying and ground troops made up of birds, mice, and other creatures fighting amongst the treetops.
- Battles are often won or lost by reducing your opponent's Nest value to zero.
- When birds fly they will always use at least two of these flight path distances and may move more based on their move value.
- Combat is resolved using Dice and the stats of the combatants with unblocked hits resulting in wounds.
- When a bird in tail feathers is defeated it will not easily forget this blow to its pride and collects a grudge token.
- If you have any questions about anything that you saw here don't hesitate to put them in the comments below and I'll gladly answer them as soon as I get a chance
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video OgFUrW0Xivo
Watch It Played Rules Teach at 0:19 sentiment: positive
video_pk 65196 · mention_pk 158824
Click to watch at 0:19 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- players are free to make up their own scenarios
- team play can be built into scenarios
- advancing units and gaining veteran status adds depth to campaign play
Cons
- ground units cannot be advanced normally
- only one veteran allowed per force at a time
- a veteran figure loses its marker when defeated
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Army building — Players can build custom forces by using points to add figures and cards to their army. Squads have a base cost and additional figures cost more. Up to half of a custom force can be heroes, creatures, and squads, with at least half being birds and pilots. Unique units and common squad cards can only have one copy, while other common units can have multiple copies. Additional action cards can be added for one point each.
- Campaign play — For campaign play, players build forces using common birds and the lowest-ranked pilots. Scenarios can be linked together, and the core set scenarios are intended to be played in order. Victory conditions for the campaign can be a collection of points earned or winning the final scenario. After a scenario, winners and losers make decisions affecting the next mission, such as advancing pilots or birds. Rookie pilots can become standard, and standard pilots can become ace. Common birds can be exchanged for unique ones of the same type. Ground units cannot be advanced normally, but heroic conditions can allow a ground figure to become a veteran, gaining bonuses to attacks and defense. Only one veteran is allowed per force at a time, and veteran markers carry over between scenarios unless the veteran figure is defeated. If a bird is defeated, it gains a grudge marker, which can be spent to re-roll dice in a death spiral.
- Objective Cards — Objective cards can be shuffled and revealed during setup to add variety to scenarios. These cards list benefits for completing certain requirements during the game, leading to new mixtures of conditions and in-game effects each time the game is played.
- team play — In team play, two armies can be on the same team. Unique birds cannot have more than one copy per team, and common squad units have a limit of one per player on a team. Teammates can discuss strategy and view each other's played missions. Teammates' forces are considered friendly.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
No quotes stored for this video.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video zWnZ5inR61g
Watch It Played Rules Teach at 0:21 sentiment: positive
video_pk 65197 · mention_pk 158825
Click to watch at 0:21 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Can be played as individual matches or as a campaign.
- Option to use simplified rules for learning.
- Includes unit cards for Mice and Mystics figures.
- Offers custom scenario creation.
- Optional rules like action cards, leaves, and foraging add depth.
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Aerial and ground combat between factions
Comparison games
- Mice and Mystics
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action cards — Cards played during activation with specified effects, costs, and requirements. Placed in refresh pile or next to unit card.
- Activation Phase — Players use dice (base plus optional cheese) to determine turn order. Players activate one unit at a time until all are used.
- Alliance Colors and ID Rings — Players choose a color for their alliance and assign ID rings to the bases of flying models for easy identification.
- Attacks (Ranged, Melee, Swoop) — Ranged attacks target within range and clear sight. Melee attacks are against adjacent figures. Swoop attacks are performed by flying birds crossing specific targets.
- Battlefield Setup — Uses tree overlays to create the battlefield boundaries. Scenario indicates alliances, home trees, and nests.
- Bird Perching — Birds must start perched on a tree branch and are set at center tilt. Perched birds count as large ground units.
- Campaign play — Scenarios can be played over a series of sessions to form a campaign where forces advance over time.
- Cheese Mechanic — Cheese can be spent to gain extra dice for initiative and has other uses. It can be gained when passing a turn with no available units.
- combat resolution — Involves rolling attack dice (based on unit stats) and defense dice (for the defender). Hits are assigned as wounds unless blocked by shields.
- Custom Army Building — Explains how to build custom forces and create scenarios on the fly using a deck of randomized objectives.
- Death Spiral — Occurs when crossing an enemy bird's path. Involves a dice roll comparing battle value + melee attack. Can result in wounds or both birds falling.
- Figure Placement — Figures can be placed on the home tree, but not in the trunk. Nests can hold multiple figures, with limits based on size.
- Flight Path Construction — Announce combination of long/short templates. First template aligns with bird's base; remaining connect at maneuver points according to tilt.
- Flying Unit Movement — Flying units must move. Piloting checks can be made to adjust tilt. Flight path is built using flight templates.
- Foraging — Optional rule allowing a ground unit to do nothing during activation to collect one cheese.
- Force Building — Players build forces based on recommendations provided for factions like the Downwood militia and the Vermin raiders.
- Ground Unit Deployment — Players choose small or large ground figures to send on missions from their home tree.
- Leaves (Optional Rule) — Act like spaces but have figure limits. Can be cut loose by ground figures and drift. Can be used for attacks or dropped at destination trees.
- mission cards — Players collect mission cards for their alliance, which are played secretly and simultaneously during the mission phase.
- Mission resolution — Unrevealed missions are flipped and resolved in order. Decoy missions return figures to nest. Intercept, Siege, and Patrol missions have specific combat or movement effects.
- Movement — Ground units move up to their move value. Figures cannot exceed space limits. Small figures stop in spaces with opponents and cannot leave if outnumbered.
- Nest Points — Each player's nest is worth a certain number of points, tracked on a nest dial.
- Reinforcing — Figures from the reserve box are moved to the home nest during the final phase, unless the nest is destroyed.
- Rescue Mission — Allows a bird pilot from the casualty pile to be returned to the home nest, albeit injured.
- Resolving Flight Path Elements — Crossing tree trunks ends movement, causes wounds, and gives rattled condition. Crossing empty tree spaces allows perching. Crossing enemy ground units, missions, or nests allows swoop attacks.
- Revive Action — Allows players to move figures from their casualty pile to a reserve box if they have a full cheese wheel.
- Rider and Mount Assembly — Riders are attached to birds, and their unit cards are placed together.
- Scenario Book — The game comes with a book of scenarios that can be played over a series of sessions to form a campaign where forces advance over time.
- Scurry Action — Similar to moving but not considered a move for triggering effects. Birds cannot scurry.
- Shift — An effect that moves a unit to a designated endpoint without adjusting facing. Not considered a move.
- Simplified Rules Option — The game comes with rules that can be left out for a more simple experience when first learning.
- Squad Unit Activation — When activating a squad unit, players choose a number of figures up to the squad value; others are not activated that round.
- Status Effects (Rattled, Immobilized, On Fire) — Rattled pilots have reduced stats. Immobilized figures cannot act but can defend. On Fire figures take wounds unless a burst symbol is rolled or extinguished.
- Structures — Immobile units that can be built on tree spaces, requiring specific figures and blocking enemy presence.
- Tail Feathers (Advanced Rule) — Feathers dropped when a bird suffers wounds. They can block clear sight and cause pilots to become rattled when crossed.
- Tilt Phase — Players set the tilt for all controlled birds. Tilt can be adjusted one position left or right from the starting position. Birds not flying must be center tilt.
- Transporting Figures — Large birds can transport small friendly ground figures. Transported figures are placed in a casualty pile if the bird is defeated or cannot perch.
- Unit Activation Rotation — Activated units' cards are rotated 90° to indicate they cannot be used again that round.
- Unit Cards — Players collect matching unit cards and corresponding miniatures. Unit cards can have different versions (rookie, standard, veteran) indicated by acorns.
- Wounds and Defeat — Figures have life values; when wounds equal or exceed this, they are defeated. Squad units are defeated if any figure takes wounds. Nests can be destroyed.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- This is set in the same universe as Mice and Mystics, but instead players will be facing off head-to-head in aerial and ground combat.
- The game comes with a book of scenarios that can be played over a series of sessions to form a campaign where your forces will advance over time.
- I should mention the game comes with rules that you can leave out when you're first learning the game if you want to create a more simple experience.
- When activating a unit, you can do the following with it in this order. First, you can move. Then you can scurry or attack and then revive.
- Figures in a death spiral cannot be targeted by attacks, abilities, or action cards of figures outside of the death spiral.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video PdnXNRqrwIc
Board to Death TV - Board Game Reviews Interview at 0:35 sentiment: positive
video_pk 10270 · mention_pk 30308
Click to watch at 0:35 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Standalone game that expands the Mice and Mystics universe into a new tactical format with sky and ground combat.
- Modular terrain and tree-based battlefield design enable varied and replayable scenarios.
- Bird and rider customization adds depth and strategic variety.
- Campaign progression and upgrades provide long-term player engagement beyond a single session.
- Backward compatibility with Mice and Mystics minis lowers barriers to entry and invites reuse of existing collections.
Cons
- Not a cooperative experience like Mice and Mystics, which may disappoint players who prefer co-op play.
- As a skirmish-focused title, it may have a steeper initial learning curve for players new to tactical minis games.
Thematic elements
- Bird-themed aerial and ground combat within a shared fantasy IP. The game leverages the Mice and Mystics mythos to explore tactical battles that combine flight, terrain manipulation, and characterful animal units with distinct abilities. The overarching theme centers on progression and adaptation within a whimsical, family-friendly fantasy world.
- Tail Feathers is presented as a standalone game set within the Mice and Mystics universe. The battlefield is constructed using modular trees that allow battles to unfold both among branches and in the air, creating a mixed environment where ground and aerial units interact. The setting emphasizes a fantasy animal kingdom where mice operate as pilots and commanders while birds act as mounts and weapons in skirmish warfare.
- Campaign-driven progression with unit upgrades and rider customization embedded in a tactical skirmish framework. Narrative progression rewards player choice and persistence across games, reinforcing a sense of growth and narrative continuity within the Tail Feathers arc.
Comparison games
- Mice and Mystics
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- aerial_and_ground_interaction — Combat happens both in the air between trees and on the ground, creating dynamic cross-layer engagements between flying units and grounded forces.
- Campaign — A campaign system where units earn upgrades as players progress, introducing RPG-like growth and long-term player investment.
- legacy_compatibility_with_existing_minis — The game is designed to be compatible with Mice and Mystics miniatures, enabling players to reuse existing figures from that line.
- mini-games — A tactical miniatures experience that emphasizes unit interaction, positioning, and miniature aesthetics over mass-market abstraction.
- miniatures_focused_gameplay — A tactical miniatures experience that emphasizes unit interaction, positioning, and miniature aesthetics over mass-market abstraction.
- Modular board — Battlefields are assembled from modular trees that influence line of sight, cover, and movement, enabling varied layouts and strategic decisions.
- modular_terrain_and_terrain_interaction — Battlefields are assembled from modular trees that influence line of sight, cover, and movement, enabling varied layouts and strategic decisions.
- rider_swap_and_abilities — Riders are interchangeable; different riders confer distinct abilities, and different birds provide unique aerial or ground capabilities, adding depth and customization.
- skirmish_tactical_combat — Small-scale battles that prioritize positioning, timing, and resource management over brute force, with an emphasis on micro-mights and micro-actions.
- Unique player powers — Riders are interchangeable; different riders confer distinct abilities, and different birds provide unique aerial or ground capabilities, adding depth and customization.
- unit_upgrade_campaign — A campaign system where units earn upgrades as players progress, introducing RPG-like growth and long-term player investment.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Tail Feathers should be out in November.
- It's a standalone game set in the M Mystics world.
- it's a little Skirmish battle game that involves flying units and ground units.
- you set up a battlefield using these modular trees.
- you can fight in the trees or you can fight in the sky between the trees with your birds.
- the little mice ride around on these birds.
- the birds tilt as you can see.
- you can swap out the riders with different Riders and different Riders have different abilities and different birds have different abilities.
- it comes with a little campaign so as you play through the campaign your units can be upgraded.
- it's a tactical Miniatures game a little Skirmish game.
- Not a co-op game like M and Mystics but it is somewhat compatible with M and Mystics.
- If you already own M and Mystics you can take all your figures from M and Mystics and they'll be able to play them in Tail Feathers.
- we provide all the cards to play all those Miniatures in this game.
- Painted Minis you see here are the ones that come in the game and I painted them myself.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
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