FFG nos ofrece un nuevo avance de Warhammer Diskwars.

FFG continua mostrándonos información de su próximo juego ambientado en el universo de Warhammer Fantasy, de nombre Diskwars.
Curiosamente hace algunos días, los chicos de la compañía Ameritrash por excelencia, lanzaban la triste noticia, para los seguidores del LCG Warhammer Invasión, se daba por finiquitado y cerrado el juego.
Veremos si este Diskwars, aguanta más tiempo, aunque la apuesta sea diferente y es que el mercado de LCG, empieza ha estar saturado.

“Disciplined regiments of Halberdiers and Spearmen march into battle alongside dashing Swordsmen, their advance covered by the fire of Handgunners and Crossbowmen. The courage and discipline of these soldiers is renowned throughout the Old World, and there are few foes that can break the steadfast ranks of a well-led Empire army.”
    –Warhammer: The Empire

The battles of Warhammer: Diskwars are fast approaching, and it’s time to muster your troops!

War horns blare. Armored destriers snort and stomp. The Winds of Magic howl. Soldiers across the Old World’s numerous battlefields cry for blood. Amid the din of battle, at the first twinge of panic, only one thing can settle your troops – the inspiring sight of a hero cutting a swath through enemy forces. Heroes in Warhammer: Diskwars inspire their troops and give them strength, and they stand resolute at the center of every single one of the game’s armies.

In recent previews, we’ve examined the game’s melee and ranged combat, as well as how the decisions you make in setup echo throughout the course of your game. Today, as we draw closer to the time at which the game’s Core Setwill appear on retail shelves, we turn our attention to its for hero-focused army building and the myriad possibilities those rules introduce.

The Rules

Army building in Warhammer: Diskwars is a rewarding experience that yields new strategies and leads to an ever-changing environment, keeping the game fresh and fun.

Each army comprises a number of regiments, and you and your opponent must agree on the number of regiments you’re bringing to the table before you begin your game. A standard match uses two regiments; for longer, larger-scale battles, three regiments provide a truly epic experience.

Each regiment is formed around a hero, and players begin army building by selecting the heroes that will lead their regiments. Each hero has recruitment points, and you spend your heroes’ points to recruit units into their regiments.

Meanwhile, each unit has a recruitment cost which indicates how many points that unit costs to recruit. A hero need not spend all his recruitment points, but he cannot recruit disks whose total recruitment cost exceeds his recruitment points.

Additionally, when building an army, players must obey the following restrictions:

• A player cannot have both Order and Destruction disks in the same army.
• A player’s army cannot have more than one copy of any disk marked with a unique symbol () in front of its title.
• A hero cannot recruit disks affiliated with another race.
• A hero must recruit an equal or greater number of small disks than the total number of medium and large disks. The hero itself does not count toward this limit.
• A player must have at least one unique hero in his army.
• There cannot be more than three copies of a small disk, two copies of a medium disk, and one copy of a large disk per regiment.
• There cannot be more than one elite disk per regiment. The elite symbol () appears in front of a disk’s title.

In addition to recruiting units, each hero has a command value that indicates the number of command cards it allows you to add to your hand. You cannot include more than one copy of a given command card (by title) in your hand.

The Possibilities

Even a quick review of the above rules for army building in Warhammer: Diskwars reinforces a few key points about the possibilities inherent in the game:

Everything Begins with Your Heroes

The first thing you’ll want to do as you look to build an army for Warhammer: Diskwars is closely review your heroes.

Heroes provide the recruitment points you need to spend to recruit other units, and they supply you with command cards. Thus, you’ll want to make sure to pay attention to your heroes’ recruitment points and command values.

Still, your heroes are worth far more than their recruitment points and command values. Each hero in the Core Setboasts a powerful and unique set of keywords and abilities, and the selection of a hero like Teclis will set you along a far different path than the selection of a hero like his brother, Tyrion.

Because your heroes are your army’s most important units, and because they possess some of the game’s most powerful abilities, in a game with two or more regiments, you’ll likely want to look at partnering heroes whose abilities work well together.

For example, Volkmar the Grim can focus to empower any target disk within short range (including himself). Activated late in a round, Volkmar’s ability can provide you a targeted boost wherever it will be most impactful, but when you partner Volkmar the Grim with Luthor Huss, Volkmar’s ability becomes even more potent.

Alternatively, you might pursue a different strategy and pair Volkmar the Grim with Karl Franz. While Karl Franz wouldn’t gain Frenzy and Resistant (, ) like Luthor Huss, he could remove activation tokens from Volkmar and another one of your units. In this way, your Hellblaster Volley Gun could fire twice in a round, and Volkmar could empower two different units.

Not all of the Core Set heroes have unique text abilities. Some heroes, like Azhag the Slaughterer, simply pack a heavy-hitting array of keywords and stats. Two stamina, flying, frenzy, and the Caster trait, combined with his seven attack strength make Azhag a very, very nasty Orc.

Diversity Isn’t Just Good, It’s Mandatory

The restrictions built into the army building rules don’t just encourage diversity; they enforce it. This is a good thing.

First, and most importantly, increased army diversity leads to richer dynamics within the game.

Second, the rules that enforce army diversity should also encourage you to look at the benefits of multiple types of disks. Because their combat abilities are so potent, you’ll likely want to include some large and medium units in your regiments, but because you’ll need to recruit at least as many small units as medium and large units, the rules encourage you to look for synergies between the large units you want to feature and the smaller units you’ll use to fill out your ranks.

Armies Stand Together or Fall Apart

In a way, the game’s restrictions on army building may serve as your first strategy guide. Each unit has its place, and even if you want to play heavily toward a particular strategy – say, units with powerful ranged attacks – you’ll do well to field a rounded army that backs up your primary strategy with enough of a fall-back plan that you’ll be able to put up a fight even when your primary plan starts to crack.

For example, while it’s great to have units with the Magic X keyword because of the automatic damage they can deal prior to the combat phase, an army that relied too heavily upon sheltering as many Stone Fangz Shamans and other Orc as possible behind a wall of defenders might find itself in serious trouble when confronted by aBloodthirster that was not only resistant () but able to fly over the Orc defenders and slay all the Stone Fangz Shamans in a single, frenzied combat phase.

Building Toward the Future

Even as the rules for army building permit a wide range of possible builds straight out of the Core Set, they clearly suggest a future filled with even wilder possibilities. All the heroes in the Core Set share a command value of two, but the very fact that the command value exists suggests that it’s likely to change with the release of future expansions.

We’ll look more at army building in our upcoming previews; we’ll explore the strengths and weaknesses of each of the four races in the Core Set, and we’ll present some sample army builds.

In the meantime, while you wait for our next preview, be sure to check out the ongoing conversations in our community forums. Then join us for a closer look at the strengths, weaknesses, and different units that the Empire brings to the battlefield in the Warhammer: Diskwars Core Set!