Warhammer: Invasion

[Titus]

The Old World, a land of immense kingdoms, epic quests, and fierce battles, seethes with ancient rivalries. Bitter enemies face off against one another on blood-soaked fields of battle, as each race seeks to rise to dominance of the Old World. The clanging of sword against axe, an all-too-common sound, barely drowns out the anguished wailing of the suffering masses. Massive Iron-clad Orcs rage war against everyone, including themselves. Dwarfs wield massive hammers against the foul spawn of Chaos. The Empire engineers calculate building walls and fortifications to repel invaders, and the armies of Chaos pour forth from the Northern wastes to wreck ruin on all.

Set in Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy Battle universe, Warhammer: Invasion The Living Card Game, designed by award-winning designer Eric M. Lang, is a battle in which two players muster their forces, collect vast resources, venture out on perilous – but rewarding – quests, build and develop their kingdom, and lead massive sieges against heavily fortified foes. Every race features its own flavour and proficiencies. The Dwarfs are the masters of armour and can withstand mighty blows that would kill any other creature. The Orcs spread their love of battle far and wide, and are capable of dealing massive damage and destruction on a scale nigh unimaginable. The Empire is well organized and swiftly develops and moves their forces about with surgical precision. Chaos strikes insidiously at the delicate underbelly corrupting, and eventually destroying, all who it targets with lies of power and strength. Every faction must not only wage war with its foes, but also must manage and build up their kingdoms if they hope to win.

At the centre of your empire is your Capital. This mighty fortress, represented by your Capital Board, is where you determine the fate of your troops and buildings. Divided into three zones, Battlefield, Quest, and Kingdom, the Capital represents the focal point of your realm. The Kingdom zone determines how many resources are funnelled into your coffers. Each point of power here will be turned into profit, allowing you to bring forth mightier units and buildings. The Quest zone provides new cards. The total power channelled here will determine how many cards you may draw each turn. Take care, as you have a finite number of cards in your deck. The Battlefield is the zone from which you launch mighty attacks. Each point of power will allow you to deal damage to opposing units and Capitals, while defending your own holdings.

As each of these zones is vital, you must decide where your attentions are most beneficial. Do you put an emphasis on resources, allowing you to out build your foe and bring more forces to bear? Do you send your units on quests and outdraw your opponent? Do you summon forth your mightiest warriors and engines of war to dominate your rival on the fields of battle? These decisions will determine the fate of your empire; balance them wisely and you will reign supreme. As each faction, or blend of factions, has scores of powerful strategies, it will take a clever leader to discover all of them!

Each war begins with the creation of your empire. Your Capital is erected and forces and buildings begin to flow into your realm. Units and Support cards are summoned into service in one of your three zones, providing you benefits you must capitalize on. Tactic cards will allow you to get the jump on your foes, and may well turn the tide of battle. Quest cards will provide your units new options, and can bring powerful rewards into your employ. Each card you draw may be used to further develop your nation, or placed within one of your zones. Developments will unlock key abilities on certain cards, and will increase the damage capacity of your Capital.

Support Cards represent the weapons, artefacts, and buildings that make your empire great. The Empire, with its multitudinous religions, has a number of temples and shrines. These buildings allow you to move units to different zones, prevent your opponent from targeting your units, and even help you rapidly develop your zones. The Orcs mob up at Grimgor’s Camp, which reduces the cost of the first unit brought into a zone each turn. The Dwarfs, masters of craftsmanship, are able to repair their Capitol by building the Keystone Forge. Dedicated to disease, the Shrine to Nurgle forces damaged units to become corrupted after combat. To further help these aspiring nations, there are a number of Neutral buildings that can bolster the abilities of any faction. The Contested Stronghold provides power for each development in its zone. For the faction that has developed their Capital, this building can be an amazing resource.

Tactic Cards represent manoeuvres, spells, and other unexpected actions, and are played directly from your hand, often producing a devastating and unwelcome surprise for your opponent. The WAAAGH! cannot be predicted and can unleash massive amounts of damage to an unprepared foe. Demolition! provides the Dwarfs a way to remove pesky Support cards or developments, and can swing the balance of power in an instant. Innovation is a Neutral tactic that provides resources based on the number of developments in your Kingdom zone, which can provide a huge income bonus for the development-minded ruler.

Quests represent the various missions that units can be sent on. Only playable in your Quest zone, these cards provide a benefit after a unit has spent time there. The Chaos Quest, Journey to the Gate, represents a young warrior travelling to the frozen climes at the north of the world to gain strength from the Ruinous Powers. Once completed, this quest forces your opponent to discard their hand! The Dwarfs have a history based on the honouring of traditions and respect for elders. Any dwarf foolish enough to sully their good name, by act of malice or mistake, must take up the Slayer Oath. This oath sends them forth to battle horrible monsters, in an attempt to die honourably in battle. The Glorious Death quest, once completed, allows the Dwarfs to destroy up to two attacking units!

First you must collect that which is your due. Resources are counted up, cards are drawn, troops are purchased, and buildings are constructed. Once you have amassed your army and built up your empire, blood must be spilled. Any unit in your Battlefield may be sent forth against the enemy Capital. Once combat is joined, your pathetic foe must try and defend against your onslaught. Every point of damage must be distributed amongst the defenders, but any that spills over goes straight into the heart of your foe’s Capital. As each section becomes more and more battered, your opponent must scramble to prevent it from being wrecked entirely. For once you have destroyed two of your opponent’s zones, they are eliminated entirely.

Warhammer: Invasion the Card Game is fast paced, and will push you to the edge as you rapidly build your army, develop your Kingdom, and lay waste to your foes. Perilous quests, underhanded trickery, and raw power can all be found within. Each race has much to gain, and will only be sated when their empire controls all the lands. No quarter will be given, and none will be asked for. This is Warhammer Invasion!


A Living Card Game (LCG) is a game that breaks away from the traditional Collectible Card Game (CCG) model by offering a new fixed card distribution method that still offers the same dynamic customizable, expanding, and constantly evolving game play that makes CCG’s so much fun, but without the blind buy purchase model that has burned out so many players. The end result is an innovative mix that gives you the best of both worlds!


Source: fantasyflightgames.com

[mangsky]

I am very interested in bringing these in but I do not know if there is sufficient interest to go beyond 2-3 players....

[Alger B C Lim]

me me me interested ako haha

anyway im confused a bit... so you buy the individual armies? or boxed game siya where you get all the possible options in one set?

-alger

[yamizero]

far as i know the starter set comes with 4 armies, its an LCG so yah you get no randomization. 2 more armies are on the way. depends on how you want to play, solid armies of drafts. built for two at the moment but can be multiplayer given more cards to go round.

[Titus]

I'm interested in this as well. The core set is a bit expensive ($40) and it's officially only two-player for now but the art looks great and the designer also did the Game of Thrones CCG (now an LCG), which I liked too. Initial reviews on BGG are positive.

anyway im confused a bit... so you buy the individual armies? or boxed game siya where you get all the possible options in one set?

The core set contains playable decks for all four initial factions, and some neutral cards (High Elves and Dark Elves) but you only get one copy of certain cards (you're allowed to have 3 copies in your deck). So up to four players can share a core set. To custom-build a deck, you're expected to trade cards with others. The game also has an official draft variant.

As JC said, the cool thing about the LCG concept is that the cards are not random. However, the bad part is the battle packs (new cards) are monthly releases at $10 and contain a mix of factions. Also, the new factions (Skaven, Elves) are only available in the battle packs. This format also makes the card pool less dynamic because everyone has access to the same cards, plus if you happen to want to collect a faction that everyone else wants, you'll have a hard time trading.

So anyone wanna share a core set? I already inquired with Brel and I think he can bring this in. Problem is how to divide the factions. I personally like Chaos and Empire. Orks are ok too but I don't like Dwarves.

[Gaebril]

If you're dividing a core set, you might have trouble splitting the neutral cards. I dunno, just thinking out loud.

Yeah, it looks good, we'll probably try to bring some in ourselves.

[yamizero]

aye. second that notion. getting a core perhaps when the other packs are out. gad damn my "completist" nature.

[Alger B C Lim]

So anyone wanna share a core set? I already inquired with Brel and I think he can bring this in. Problem is how to divide the factions. I personally like Chaos and Empire. Orks are ok too but I don't like Dwarves.

ah made more sense... thanks titus hehe

anyway why dont you like dwarves?? they are little drunk men who bash heads with hammers and axes.. whats not to like?

anyway pag ayaw mo dwarves ill gladly take them from you

-alger

[Titus]

Anyone interested in how this plays should check out the video tutorial.

anyway pag ayaw mo dwarves ill gladly take them from you

Sure, just trade me all your Chaos cards in return.

[Alger B C Lim]

Anyone interested in how this plays should check out the video tutorial.

anyway pag ayaw mo dwarves ill gladly take them from you

Sure, just trade me all your Chaos cards in return.

haha ok yung tutorial video ah looks easy enough to get into

hmmm sige if your getting a set ill trade you chaos for dwarves hehe you want empire na rin? ill take orcs haha

-alger

[Talismanic (Mark)]

So whose playing this now? I got the Core-Set a week ago and have had a couple of games playing Chaos vs the Empire. The game is relatively easy to pick up after a few plays, though the resource counters may feel a bit fiddly, they are necessary for playing tactics and cards on another player's turn.

The focus on units is apparent from the get go, as the power of units in the kingdom area increases resource points available, while those in the quest area increase the number of cards you draw. This largely eliminates the need for resource cards (though there are buildings/support cards) and "draw" cards.

Battle is pretty simple- count total power and then allocate wound counters based on the amount, then apply tactics/abilities/healing. Wounds are persistent, so more counters there.

The Chaos Faction has a focus on corrupting (tapping) opponents. A corrupted unit cannot attack or defend. During the Kingdom Phase (Upkeep) you can un-corrupt ONE unit.  However, in the 4 games I played, it was difficult to get a reliable engine for tapping more than one enemy unit at a time.

The Empire has a number of mobile units that can move from one of the three zones of your capital to another. It also has cards that can move the units of other players, this can be quite decisive as the other factions don't have as many mobile units. And once a unit has been removed from a zone it cannot defend that zone which is tantamount to eliminating the unit altogether during the attack that turn. The Empire also has the Shrine of Taal that grants one unit +X power (where X is the number of developments in that zone) per turn, coupled with mobile units, this can be a powerful combo.     

   

[maskmanjoe]

nice insights on the game dynamics, have you tried the other two factions yet? we're still waiting for our copies to arrive so I've yet to try this

[Gerald]

Talismanic, I'd love to try this game with you on Friday sa Hobbymania if you feel like playing it.  I have my own copy din, but if you're bringing yours, I'll leave it at home.

[Talismanic (Mark)]

I played a game of Orks vs. Dwarves recently. The lesson I learned is that you should always build up your kingdom and Quest areas first. Or at least your kingdom if you have a decent draw. I was playing Dwarves which should really be more defensive- I have some Red-Green habits left over ha ha ha.

Orks- Have high power attackers, and have this Banner/Monument thingy that provides massive attack bonuses. They also have a number of units that get better as they get wounded.

Dwarves have many units with toughness (cancel one damage) and have a lot of high defense units. Probably should be played build-up rather than offensively. 

@ Gerald--> Sure thing, I can bring my copy.   

[catch8088]

The box says this can handle 2 to 4 players.  Has anyone played a 4-player game with this?