Warhammer Underworlds Embergard - A New Edition With Plenty Of Changes

Normally when you see board games move from edition to edition rules will be upgraded, but nothing truly monumental will shift. That's certainly not the case with the new edition of Warhammer Underworlds Embergard. While the core idea of a team skirmish game remains intact the board and way the Warbands are set up is entirely different.

What's In The Warhammer Underworlds Embergard Box?

Along with a new way to play the packaging has also been shaped up. Opening the box you'll be met with a large box that contains the games' 36-page instruction manual, a double-sided quick start guide, Miniature sheets and their assembly instructions, tokens, a game board, and four Rivals Decks.

The Rivals Decks are Emberstone Sentinels, Blazing Assault, Countdown to Cataclysm, and Pillage and Plunder.

This is the first of one of the major changes to the game. Warband-specific mechanics have been moved off the fighter's individual cards and onto a Warband card. The individual fighter cards instead allowing for beautiful full-color card artwork for each of the miniatures and using icons to represent their attacks and abilities.

Realistically you still end up with the same, or more things to keep track of but I'm all for not needing to cram lots of tiny text onto cards. The Warband cards also contain some story context and how each Warband is inspired.

One disappointing aspect of how the game is packaged is that after putting together your Warbands there's no way to fit them in the box without it bulging out. A simple solution to this is to remove the bases off the larger minis (The Embergard) and just reassemble the next time you're wanting to pull it out to play.

Playing Warhammer Underworlds

With each player picking a Warband Warhammer Underworlds is a skirmish game. Players take it in turns moving their characters according to their stats around the game board working to simultaneously complete Objectives, while also hindering their opponent from completing theirs, or just trying to kill them.

The game is played out over just three rounds with very limited turns meaning that every step, or misstep, has a chance to shift the momentum of the game. Each round is comprised of each player getting to take four turns, and then each of these turns is made up of an Action Step and a Power Step.

This means that in Round 1 you'll have Player 1 start, take their Action and Power step, and then Player 2 will take their Action and Power step, before it moves back to Player 1. This pattern will repeat until Player 2 has taken their fourth turn which will signal the end of the Battle Round with an End Phase.

The Action Step focuses on what's on the board in front of you, while the Power Step gives you a chance to activate cards from your hand or special abilities.

Gameplay, as well as the instructions, have been incredibly streamlined and it's now nowhere near as high a barrier of entry for a new player interested in getting started in the world of Warhammer Underworlds. 

New Players Rejoice

I've spoken in the past about how Warhammer Underworlds can be complicated to get started, but once you have it the pace speeds up. After praising the last Starter Set's ability to include an example game to teach you the mechanics this box does the same.

The two-page Quick Start document shows you an example layout, how to set it up yourself, and how the first Action and Power step would function. There's even an included video link.

Warbands And The RIvals Decks In Action

The major benefit of having all of the thematic mechanics now on a Warband card is that no matter what deck you play a Warband with they will still retain their core mechanics. Yes, this does mean the complete removal of Warband decks.

The Emberwatch is a trio of powerful Fighters that are all about launching the offensive. Each has a massive amount of health and will do all they can to mow down your opponents Warband as quickly as possible. Becoming inspired based on being in enemy territory even their abilities are about placing themselves in the middle of the action and dealing additional damage at a moments notice.

Alternatively, Zikkit's Tunnelpack is a group of five Skaven fighters who inspire if one of their Warband takes damage or is killed. Leaning into this mechanic the greater numbers are combined with more fragile units. You'll want to sacrifice some to empower the rest here.

It's an interesting juxtaposition to include both of these Warbands in the same box. The strength of one side channels into empowering the other. This makes this pairing a unique battle to see whether your own growth can outpace the growth that you're allowing your opponent to reach.

The four rival decks have their own unique gameplay mechanics that when combined with the different Warbands create for a wholly unique experience. These don't just change how you might approach combat in Warhammer Underworlds but also how you'll navigate the board.

The Emberstone Sentinels Rivals Deck is all about completing objectives related to holding Treasure Tokens across the board, these are specific territories. The Blazing Assault Warband instead promotes a Warband's offensive capability.

Warhammer Underworlds Embergard Review | Final Thoughts

Warhammer Underworlds has always been a fun experience at my table, but whenever I've had to bring a new player in teaching the game has always been a daunting tasks. With the release of Embergard, even though it's not specifically a Starter Set aimed at those who have never played before, it does an incredible job setting up the players for success.

With new interactions between Warbands (and their constant abilities) and the different Rivals Decks changing the desired play style this also sets up this edition for success as new Warbands appear and Rival Decks are released each will be more compatible with one another.

The copy of Warhammer Underworlds Embergard in this review was provided by the publisher. All screenshots were taken by the author during the process of review.