Blackstone Fortress: Enter The Unboxing
We’ve got our of Blackstone Fortress and are diving into the mysterious new game from Games Workshop. Come see what secrets are inside the box!
There are so many secrets and so many questions we have about Blackstone Fortress – and that’s AFTER taking a look inside the box:
In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past week, you’ve probably seen the majority of the contents. It shouldn’t be a shock to anyone that the miniatures are fantastic, the contents are high quality, and the game is pretty involved.
But what hasn’t been talked about yet is that this game has a secret in the box – and as far as we can tell, it’s different for everyone…sort of. What are we talking about? Well we’re talking about the secret in the center of the Blackstone Fortress:
We heard that this sealed envelope contained a secret and well, we opened it. We won’t tell you exactly what we found but we DID confirm that our ‘secret’ of the game was different from another copy of the game. We don’t know the exact number of secrets locked in these envelopes but this is kind of exciting! It’s cool that GW is dabbling in the “Legacy Board Game” realm with Blackstone Fortress.
In fact, that was just one of the cool things we found in the box. As we’ve had some time to read though the rules and the campaign, it is pretty obvious that GW wants players to revisit this game – possibly with multiple players and parties. There are differences in the way that events can play out from one session to the next. Expeditions can have different explorers and the same explorer might run with a different crew on the next go around. It’s all fun and games until you get to the final mission – and then you have to decide who gets to open the secret for yourselves…
It’s also very clear that Games Workshop plans to expand this Warhammer Quest game into more expansions later. If you want the full game experience, you should play this game as a campaign where each player chooses an explorer and plays as that explorer until the “game” is done. The whole game is designed that way – and you can have a “drop-in-drop-out” style campaign or you can just pick 4 explorers and run as a unit. You’re also encouraged to keep track of all your gear, injuries and experiences for your character. You can do that with those strange black baggies:
Theoretically, you could buy multiple copies of this game and run your explorer(s) through different instances and uncover new secrets at the end of every campaign…if you can make it to the end that is. Even after you’ve finished your initial play through, you can keep re-visiting the game and playing through the different scenarios. Overall, we’re very impressed with the contents and this strange mix of “Legacy” and re-playable board game.
If you’re looking for a mini-campaign in a box then Blackstone Fortress is for you! You can play it co-op with 1-4 players or you can bring in a 5th and have them play the bad guys competitively. This is a game that deserves a spot on your shelf if you’re a fan of the 40k universe. Lore junkies, hobbyists and competative players are all going to find something cool to do with this game.
Blackstone Fortress is pre-order this weekend and many retail stores will have demo copies available for you to check out – so what are you waiting on?! Get out there and check out Blackstone Fortress!
