>From BGG written by Sphere ( if it is up again >http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/361816 ):
I've owned the Portal 2nd edition for some time, but decided to grab a copy of the new Z-Man edition so I'd have the expansions that it contains. Here's a breakdown on how the two printings differ. Rules The rules are essentially unchanged content-wise. The Z-Man edition leaves out the backstory section, which contained language that some found offensive. ScottE has posted it here for those who are interested: The Portal 2nd Edition had both German and English rules, and was black and white other than the cover. The Z-Man rules are in English only, and use color throughout. Part of the rules are in black text on red background, and some may require good lighting to read that section. The Z-Man edition also has rules for the Mad Bomber and Mercenary counters (see Extras below). Player Aids The Z-Man edition pulls the section detailing the unit types and strategies for each army out of the rulebook and puts those instead on 4 mounted cards, printed front and back. This is much handier for the players to use, especially when learning the game. Interestingly, these player aid cards aren't listed in the 'Contents of This Box' section along with the other components. Maybe it was a late decision to include them. Counters I've read several accounts of people getting miscut counters in their Portal 2nd edition. I guess I was lucky, because mine are fine. The main difference I see is that the Portal counters have a smooth surface, while the Z-Man counters have a linen texture. Board Like the counters, my Portal 2nd has a smooth surface, while the Z-Man has a linen texture. Both use identical artwork. The Portal 2nd has somewhat brighter colors while the Z-Man is a bit more muted. Box The box for both games is the same size. The Portal box is constructed from heavier cardboard. Corrections In the Portal 2nd Edition, there are two Brawler units and one Super Mutant for Borgo, while in the Z-Man printing there are two Super Mutants and one Brawler (I've read elsewhere that the names may be attached to the wrong graphics for these two, but since these editions both use the same names, I'll stick with that). The Brawler is substantially stronger than the Super Mutant, so the Borgo faction is stronger in the Portal version than in the Z-Man. I understand that the Z-Man has the intended force mix, and provides the better balance. Extras The Portal 2nd edition has 4 blank counters, 1 each for the 4 factions as determined by background color. Z-Man added 4 Mercenaries and 1 Mad Bomber instead of the blanks. Russ Williams posted an image of the Mad Bomber under the listing for that expansion: The Z-Man art is the same, although as noted above the counters are textured differently. I couldn't find an image of the Mercenaries, so I uploaded one myself: I've probably forgotten something, but hopefully that should give you a good idea of how the two printings differ. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BGG Down" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/BGG_down?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
