Oaths of VengeanceAnnouncing the Second Battle Pack from the Eternal War Cycle
“In the shattered groves beneath the Dragon Pass the Nagarythe swore their pact of obedience to Alith Anar, and in oaths of blood they pledged their lives to the destruction of Malekith and all his followers.”
–Warhammer Armies: High Elves
Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce the upcoming release of Oaths of Vengeance, the second Battle Pack from the Eternal War cycle for Warhammer: Invasion The Card Game!
As the Eternal War cycle pushes the rival races of the Old World toward all out war, Oaths of Vengeance further supports the cycle’s new Ambush and Raider keywords. Of the pack’s ten new units, six of them feature these new keywords, allowing them to surprise your opponents with guerrilla tactics and gather resources from their actions in the battlefield. Additionally, you’ll find new supports and tactics that enrich the battlefield phase, adding more strategy and dynamism to the game’s fast-paced warfare.
In Oaths of Vengeance, you’ll also find the Shadow King of Nagarythe, Alith Anar (Oaths of Vengeance, 21). Days of Blood will give players their first chance to get their hands on one of the cycle’s powerful new legends, but it’s likely that none of the new legends exemplify the cycle’s focus on dynamic battlefield action as well as the High Elves’ legendary master of guerrilla warfare.
Lead Developer Caleb Grace on the Design of Alith Anar
The Eternal War cycle is all about pushing the boundaries of combat in Warhammer: Invasion The Card Game, so I decided to create a new breed of legends to lead their troops into battle. It was important to me that players would be able play them early enough in the game to take advantage of their additional power and abilities, so instead of costing the typical five to seven resources – with high loyalty – the legends in the Eternal War cycle each cost only three resources with two loyalty icons.
But how does this push the boundaries of combat you ask? First of all, each of the new legends has a powerful ability that can only be triggered when it attacks. For example, Alith Anar reads: “Action: When this legend attacks, turn target development you control faceup. If it is a (High Elf) unit with Ambush, trigger its ability as if it just ambushed and declare it as an attacker. Otherwise, sacrifice it.” This means when you attack with Alith Anar, your Nagarythe Archer can “ambush” to deal 3 indirect damage to your opponent before committing to the attack from any zone.
Second, to balance their low cost, the legends in the Eternal War cycle all have the same first line of text: “Forced: When this legend enters play, you must burn 3 zones instead of 2 in order to win for the rest of the game.” This effect raises the bar for the player running the new legend by creating an effect that lasts the entire game, even if the legend leaves play. Burning an additional zone means additional attacks and more combat, which means more opportunities to trigger the awesome abilities on the cards in the Eternal War cycle.
Playtesting these new high-risk and high-reward legends was one of the highlights of designing the Eternal War cycle. Alith Anar in particular was exciting to develop. The legendary “Shadow King” and his Shadow Warriors, with their ruthless brand of guerrilla warfare, were the perfect soldiers to highlight the new Ambush mechanic, and it was a lot of fun to see Warhammer: Invasion players defeating their opponents by using them to recreate the same hit-and-run tactics Alith Anar used to drive the Druchii from Nagarythe.
Thanks, Caleb!
You can look forward to some guerrilla warfare of your own when Alith Anar, the Nagarythe Archer, and the other cards from Oaths of Vengeance arrive at retailers everywhere in the fourth quarter of 2012!
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Oaths of Vengeance
