Fantasy Flight August 2011 Website Exclusive: Runewars - Banners Of War Expansion
A Ravaged Wasteland!
As the battle for the coveted dragon runes escalates, new forces take up arms in the struggle. The Great Betrayer has entreated the corrupted lords of Bilehall to join their vampiric forces to his march, while the decayed wings of the great wyrms beat in the sky once more. The Latari Elves have answered the invasion of their sacred lands by convening a council to awaken the lumbering forest guardians, and the ferocious leonx riders leap into the fray.
Meanwhile, the Daqan Lords refuse to sit idle – war leaders have beseeched the renowned University of Greyhaven to send their finest wizards to repel their enemies, while legions of rocs heft brave knights into the sky. And from their crumbling wastelands, the mighty Uthuk Y’llan pose a terrible threat. Grotesque warriors of obscene size lumber from deep, dark places, and the vicious practices of the Blood Sisters will have their victims begging for mercy...
In the midst of this epic struggle, new commanders are needed to lead their factions’ soldiers to glory. Fortunately, there stand a handful brave heroes capable of wielding the banners of war.
Announced in July, Banners of War is an exciting expansion for Runewars that returns players to the war-torn lands of Terrinoth. Although it features new units, tactics, heroes, and much more, today (and exclusively at gametrademagazine.com), we’ll take a look at one unique mechanic that represents the rampant destruction wrought by the war for the dragon runes: Desolation and Cryomancy.
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| "Desolation" | "Cryomancy" |
In short, Desolation and Cryomancy are similar effects that both render an area virtually useless – unable to produce any resources whatsoever. Desolation, however, is almost always permanent; it typically represents the over-harvesting of an area or some massive natural disaster. Only one desolation token can be in an area at a time, but once it’s there, only rare game effects will remove it.
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Cryomancy, on the other hand, can represent an especially harsh winter or the ill-effects of rampant magic use in an area. Multiple cryomancy tokens can be placed in a single area (though their effects do not stack), and with each spring, one cryomancy token is removed. So while there is some hope of an area recovering from its blanket of snow and ice, the process is extremely slow. An unnaturally long winter can have its advantages, however; an area with at least one cryomancy token is considered to be in the winter season all year long...meaning that rivers and lakes remain crossable!
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So how does an area come to suffer Desolation or Cryomancy? The Tactics card Dying Lands allows a player to cast one area into desolation (or two if that player controls the Uthuk, who excel at corrupting life), while the Tactics card Rebuilding Year is helpful insurance against such an event. Cryomancy can be brought on through destructive magics, as in the Season card Throne of Ice or the aptly-named Tactics card Cryomancy.
Banners of War will be available soon, so keep watching at www.fantasyflightgames.com for more information!
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