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 Meade wrote:
My honest opinion, you might get a few folks here and there but the people that i see attracted to Shadespire are the type that already enjoy 'skirmish' type miniature wargames, they might do Warhammer 40k or sigmar on the side but they are attracted by the models and the
competitive play. You might also get a few crossover from MTG.

I would say that the game suits a casual audience insofar as it is easy to learn and quick to play, but it ends there. If people don't have that competitive edge to them, they will lose interest quick. 1v1 games can feel very intense like a chess match. It quickly turns into something where you are factoring a lot of stuff around in your head.

I have a feeling that future releases will have at least some crossover potential but IMO it is also a good thing for a competitive game if it goes in seasons like that. Otherwise the combos and power creep stack up real quick once the product line starts to expand, especially if its very popular.

Ah thanks for the reply dude! It's really helpful. The guys who are thinking of getting this already have a passing interest in wargames, particularly 40k and AOS but couldn't commit the time to assembling and painting an army.

It sounds perfect based on your description, the guys are both pretty cerebral and very competitive (I've played chess with both and it often gets intense).

I'm hoping to pick it up with one of the guys next weekend, we'll have a few games and figure out what we're doing but at this point I think it's a certain purchase.

Thanks again bud!

xerxeshavelock wrote:
Does anyone have any opinions on ranking the warbands? Or even tournament results? From the Facebook group it seems like Skaven are showing well, and I've had my best results with both Skaven and Garrek's Reavers - the 2 fastest forces. The Undead on the other hand I'm struggling with somewhat. Always close games, but being pipped most of the time.

It's hard to rank. We can go off of tournament standings but those will also be skewed off of what good players bring. I think all warbands are on a similar power level - maybe Fyreslayers are a bit weaker because of predictability - but there are none that feel imbalanced. Internal balance of matchups keeps one from being too strong imo, and the variance in deck builds can also skew results.

Honestly I think the strongest warband is the one that the best players are meshing with. If the best players prefer speed, Skaven and Khorne will be at the top. If the best players like tough brawlers, Orruks and Stormcast will be there. Pick what you're comfortable with and that's probably the best warband for you.

Ah thanks for the reply dude! It's really helpful. The guys who are thinking of getting this already have a passing interest in wargames, particularly 40k and AOS but couldn't commit the time to assembling and painting an army.

It sounds perfect based on your description, the guys are both pretty cerebral and very competitive (I've played chess with both and it often gets intense).

I'm hoping to pick it up with one of the guys next weekend, we'll have a few games and figure out what we're doing but at this point I think it's a certain purchase.

Thanks again bud!

Glad it was useful!

Another thing id recommend if you're trying to recruit new players... if you can manage it, do 3-4 player games as well. It actually works surprisingly smoothly and that way lets say you have 3 people in the room who are interested in playing and maybe one is a little new to the game, you can all play in one game. We've had fun doing it at the club

Requizen wrote:
It's hard to rank. We can go off of tournament standings but those will also be skewed off of what good players bring. I think all warbands are on a similar power level - maybe Fyreslayers are a bit weaker because of predictability - but there are none that feel imbalanced. Internal balance of matchups keeps one from being too strong imo, and the variance in deck builds can also skew results.

Honestly I think the strongest warband is the one that the best players are meshing with. If the best players prefer speed, Skaven and Khorne will be at the top. If the best players like tough brawlers, Orruks and Stormcast will be there. Pick what you're comfortable with and that's probably the best warband for you.

I guess - that flexibility is important when it comes to mirror matches especially, but also forces playing for the same objectives/opposing objectives. When you're both vying for objective 3 it helps to be that bit more aggro I guess. I was honestly expecting Orruks to be more dominant, but they seem to fall between 2 stools, neither numerous nor fast, neither exceptionally tough nor hard hitting. Sepulctural Guard are another one I haven't seen as powerful. Great defensively, not so hot at going and getting objectives/crucial kills unless you stack the deck so much you miss out on some of the fun stuff.

I am loving it though. With no warband customisation I was concerned that games would get samey, but the variety of ways to play them makes it both a varied game, and one that benefits from playing different opponents, so very social.

 Meade wrote:
Glad it was useful!

Another thing id recommend if you're trying to recruit new players... if you can manage it, do 3-4 player games as well. It actually works surprisingly smoothly and that way lets say you have 3 people in the room who are interested in playing and maybe one is a little new to the game, you can all play in one game. We've had fun doing it at the club

I think this will be more of a treat than the norm. Of the 3 dudes I'm talking about 1 lives about 30 mins away, one lives about an hour away and the other about 3 hours away! It's unlikely we'll all be together to play at the same time but it's nice to have the option, should it ever happen.

Generally speaking, I think the warband is a little less important than the deck archetype. I find in general, a focused, defensive turtle deck can be very hard to beat without teching against it. Most of the tech is generally useful so that's not a huge problem, but its sort of the gear check I think needs to be considered in deck design.

The Warbands I think largely fall into two categories. Slow, elite, tough and fast, numerous, and frail. This doesn't necessarily lock you into a playstyle, but if there is a ranking, I assume there is a best of these two categories. My best guess is as follows:

Slow, Elite, Tough

1. Stormcast - Their best advantage is that every model is a powerhouse that at most needs 1 upgrade to start one shotting things and is very hard to one shot in response. The danger is just that losing a model can be catastrophic and quickly leave you without enough board presence or charge potential to win.

2. Ironjawz - If the opponent plays their game they're incredibly dangerous, but I've seen the turtle just not damage them and their damage output is remarkably bad without inspiration. There are some interesting ways to self damage though, which I haven't fully explored.

2?/3?. Fyreslayers - I like that they can self inspire, but spending a turn setting that up can balk you out of the game entirely against a defensive player. I suspect they'll want to play their own defensive game for this reason, but a lot of anti objective strategy cards hurt them really hard by yanking them off objectives after the 4th activation.

Fast, Numerous, Frail

1. Skeletons - They just have a lot of options, can cover a lot of the board, revive previously upgraded guys ("key" figures, yuk yuk) and have a lot of versatility depending on which figures you plan to upgrade. They give up a lot of Glory as the die though.

2. Bloodreavers - The biggest drawback is that most of the team is ineffective fodder that needs to get you the Glory to upgrade Garrek or Saak to do the heavy lifting. They can win, but I'm not hugely impressed with them.

1?. Rats - Kind of the best of both the previous entries. Really disruptive movement options let you counter a lot of deck archetypes. They seem less versatile than the skeletons, but feel like the king of the objective grabbing game. I'm looking forward to getting in more games and really figuring out how well they work.

 AduroT wrote:
Denial is definitely a better counter to Earthquake than another Earthquake, but that second Earthquake is also an option.

Won a small six man local event over the weekend playing the new Dwarves for the first time. Glory deck was near purely Objective focused, with the power deck being as many pushes as I could squeeze in along with the two “healing potions” available. All three opponents played decks that ignored the objectives, so I never had to compete for them.

Beat Sigmar in the first round, 10-7. Orcs in the second,10-4? This game saw my leader kill the three non-leader Orcs in the second turn, one shotting each as he made his way from one objective to another. Third round was another Sigmar, 19-4. I actually scored 20 points, but got robbed. The big score here was ending the game with four Dwarves, on four objectives, each holding to key to their respective objective.

Never had an Earthquake used against me. Used mine twice to move an opponent off an objective I wanted while moving myself closer to it. Super strong card.

I might be dense, but I thought you only could have one of each card in your deck, so you how could you have two healing potions?

And how did you manage to take out three fighters with your leader in one turn?

Ur-Gold Boon is functionally identical to Healing Potion - just Chosen Axes specific.

They probably got too close....

Ur Gold, thus the quotes around Healing Potions.

The first he started next to, having biffed his attack roll against it the turn prior. I forget exactly how it went after that but I believe he pushed himself to a new objective, then killed the orc next to it. I think the third came into him to try and dislodge him but biffed his own roll so the dwarf showed him the error of his ways.

Ah, makes sense. Thank you for the answers!

Khorne do well if you move patiently as one big force. With 5 models that are all decent fighters, you will always have support advantage if you play it right.

But you are vulnerable to critical hits in a big way.

If you do it right, you can have your warlord charge and guarantee hits.

My Dwarf leader played wack a mole with a Khorne opponent who tried to gang up on him the other day. I feel like Khorne would benefit from a card of some sort that let them move multiple models up at once.

 AduroT wrote:
My Dwarf leader played wack a mole with a Khorne opponent who tried to gang up on him the other day. I feel like Khorne would benefit from a card of some sort that let them move multiple models up at once.

With Khorne you need to get your opponent to move to you. The second you start charging, you had better out-support your opponent by 2+ and have some ploys and equipment to support it.

Seems like my thread has died a little bit, gonna bump it!

Anyone tried Magores Fiends yet? Trying to put together a deck, but I'm having a hard time finding synergies and good plays. I want the two inspire cards, and use the inspire objective. I think that could be good.

Any other cards people think are must picks for Magores warband?

My decks have more and more just become a collection of out of turn movement cards honestly.

My latest Chosen Axes deck is all the Relics, the five Keys, break an Upgrade, say “No”, and the rest various Displaces. I’m thinking of trying something similar with the new Magores Fiends so I can be more aggressive to stop opposing Relic decks because damn is that strategy potent.

What is the best site/forum for Shadespire? I am trying to get my skeletons to work but i seem to be useless at the game...

I have two questions:

Ironjaws - if they suffer damage and then heal back up to 100% do they then get uninspired?

SCE - If they roll a guard but suffer damage because they didn't win the roll, do they still inspire?

Thanks!

 Snoopdeville3 wrote:

Ironjaws - if they suffer damage and then heal back up to 100% do they then get uninspired?

They stay inspired. Their cards state "has suffered damage" as the inspire condition. Even though they're fully healed, they would still have suffered damage.

 Snoopdeville3 wrote:

SCE - If they roll a guard but suffer damage because they didn't win the roll, do they still inspire?

They inspire. The only condition for them to inspire is to roll a shield or critical. Their attacker's roll, whether successful or not, doesn't influence the SCE's inspire condition.

Dries_Lee wrote:

 Snoopdeville3 wrote:

Ironjaws - if they suffer damage and then heal back up to 100% do they then get uninspired?

They stay inspired. Their cards state "has suffered damage" as the inspire condition. Even though they're fully healed, they would still have suffered damage.

 Snoopdeville3 wrote:

SCE - If they roll a guard but suffer damage because they didn't win the roll, do they still inspire?

They inspire. The only condition for them to inspire is to roll a shield or critical. Their attacker's roll, whether successful or not, doesn't influence the SCE's inspire condition.

Thanks!

 jhnbrg wrote:
What is the best site/forum for Shadespire? I am trying to get my skeletons to work but i seem to be useless at the game...

Take a look at the TGA forums. They have a Shadespire sub-forum with a thread dedicated to the Sepulchral Guard.

http://www.tga.community/forums/topic/12292-lets-chat-sepulchral-guard/

Dries_Lee wrote:

 jhnbrg wrote:
What is the best site/forum for Shadespire? I am trying to get my skeletons to work but i seem to be useless at the game...

Take a look at the TGA forums. They have a Shadespire sub-forum with a thread dedicated to the Sepulchral Guard.

http://www.tga.community/forums/topic/12292-lets-chat-sepulchral-guard/

Thanks for the link, i did not find it when i googled.

Is this game worth jumping into? I used to play a ton of Warhammer 40k, but always hated having to set aside 3-4 hours. This seems like that same kick, but in nice 20-30 minute increments.

 jreilly89 wrote:
Is this game worth jumping into? I used to play a ton of Warhammer 40k, but always hated having to set aside 3-4 hours. This seems like that same kick, but in nice 20-30 minute increments.

Yes. Games will fluctuate between 20 minutes (AKA both of you know what you do and have well mapped plans) to an hour at worst (you're going full chill mode or you're teaching a new guy, in which case you're too focused teaching)

Lord Kragan wrote:

 jreilly89 wrote:
Is this game worth jumping into? I used to play a ton of Warhammer 40k, but always hated having to set aside 3-4 hours. This seems like that same kick, but in nice 20-30 minute increments.

Yes. Games will fluctuate between 20 minutes (AKA both of you know what you do and have well mapped plans) to an hour at worst (you're going full chill mode or you're teaching a new guy, in which case you're too focused teaching)

Where's a good place to start reading for newbie tips?

There is a podcast, called Claim the City

The articles and decks on the Warhammer community page are great

Good batreps on youtube, I'd recommend Guerilla Miniature Games channel.

So, it seems like a Katophrane Stormcast Eternal deck won the Grand Clash, again. GW really needs to nerf that deck, or make some proper counters for it.

I faced one in our local store tournament (I placed second with Magores Fiends), and it's so obnoxious. I don't have a problem with defensive decks, but Katophrane don't even need proper objective strategy. You just stand still the whole game, and escape with Hidden Paths if the enemy comes to you.

Anyway, the game is still great, greater than ever in fact, if no one plays Katophrane..

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/05/15/may-14th-warhammer-underworlds-beta-rules-announcedgw-homepage-post-2/

Beta rules specific for Katophrane decks. each piece of equipment costs 2 glory. Can still use the free equip card.

Had a local tourney a few weeks ago and I played against 2 stormcast keep away decks. I play Orks. 1 of the two decks was a Katophrane deck. needless to say I did not win 2 of my 3 games.

OP has been updated with the latest FAQ regarding Katophrane decks. What do we think? My first impressions are good. I think it's an elegant solution, however some play testing will be necessary. They are beta rules after all.

Also, speculation time: with all the new information regarding Age of Sigmars new edition, I have some guesses on the future of Warhammer Underworlds. The latest teaser we have seen came from Adepticon:


Here we see a ghost and a new Stormcast card. Look familiar?


I think the next "edition" of Warhammer Underworlds will be released in conjunction with the new Age of Sigmar edition, and the first two warbands will be Nighthaunt and the new Stormcast Chamber (magicians, engineers etc). These will probably come in a new starter box, with new objectives, cards and game boards. This is all speculation, but I think it's solid.

Be nice to have a second edition, as I'm just getting into this.