Shadow Wars Armageddon: Back to the Future
We are kicking off our week of Shadow War Armageddon coverage on BoLS. Let’s take a look as what makes this skirmish game tick:
Welcome to Armageddon gamers. This war-torn Hiveworld is beset on all sides by every 40K faction out there, doing battle deep in the depths of Hive Acheron. Here small kill teams of the galaxy’s greatest killers stalk each other through the industrial depths for both glory and survival.
This game arrives with a GIANT heavy cardstock box filled to the limit with sprues & rules. Yes there are 10 Marine Scouts and 11 Ork Boys, but why you came here was the TERRAIN! It’s dripping in detail and enormous in scale. You have all the terrain you need for basic Kill-team games, but there are more a la carte kits on the way. This terrain is fully modular and promises some amazing boards.
These sprues are enormous.
The rulebook opens with 10 pages of background on the world of Armageddon, then dives into the 50 pages of core rules. Following that you get the rules for creating Killteams, running campaigns, and missions.
As you would expect, the book opens with a heavy dose of background on Armageddon, hivecities and the forces onworld.
Welcome to Armageddon. Watch your step – there have only been a FEW recent invasions…
All you ever wanted to know about an Imperial Hive. Rich folks up top – the poor down below.
A look at the back of the rulebook. The games comes with rules for Astartes, Astra Militarum & Ork Killteams.
Here’s a sample page of gameplay basics to get you in the mood. Note the return of both Scatter dice and Artillery Dice! Wow, it has been a while.
The game is indeed very, very similar to Necromunda. The local gangs of Armageddon are mentioned in passing, and after a thorough study of the rules side by side with Necromunda I can say that yes indeed you should be able to generate old school gangs and put them into the fight against their new competitors. More on that later. The gameplay is a timewarp back to the days of Necromunda, with it’s fast-paced games, frenetic action, bottle checks, permanent logs of your Kill-team’s progress skills, injuries, equipment and glory (or ignominy). Get ready a wholly different gameplay experience from Warhammer 40,000 and enjoy the opportunity to start a new Kill-team with the purchase of a single box of 40K minis.
Shadow War: Armageddon $130 (Sold Out)
A deep and tactically rewarding game, Shadow War: Armageddon comes with a 120-page softback rulebook, containing:
– a history of the brutal conflicts that have wracked the hive world of Armageddon since the notorious Warboss Ghazghkull Thraka decided to invade;
– an overview of the main forces fighting over the hive world – Space Marines Scouts, Astra Militarum Veteran Squads and Ork Boyz Mobs – how they fight, why they fight and the wargear they employ;
– Core Rules: the set of rules you need to learn in order to play Shadow War: Armageddon. It covers the items you need in order to play and the characteristics of each fighter type, along with a breakdown of a game turn – this will teach you movement, shooting, hand-to-hand combat and recovering from injuries, along with an explanation of the mechanics behind using terrain;
– extra rules for hiding, shooting modifiers for targeting enemies according to your weapon’s range and their cover status, overwatch, hurling grenades, reloading and running out of ammunition, parrying, critical hits and more;
– Advanced Rules: a set of optional rules adding yet more complexity to games – these cover damage caused by falling from heights, leaping over gaps or down from higher ground, stray shots and weapon failures, as well as the psychological effects of up-close warfare – fear, terror, hatred and frenzy all have their place;
– a detailed armoury, covering the different weapons, equipment and armour available, with profiles for all the gear available to Space Marines Scouts, Astra Militarum Veterans and Ork Boyz, complete with specialised ammunition types, different weapon optics and equipment;
– 6 missions, leading you through setting up the battlefield, deploying your kill teams, and the victory conditions for your game;
– a collection of evocative photography of Citadel miniatures, helping to visualise the kill teams and battles of Hive Acheron.Shadow War: Armageddon features comprehensive rules for linking games together into a larger campaign:
– improve your warriors with a Skills table that confers persistent abilities and upgrades to the members of your kill teams, gradually turning them into a squad of elites;
– Special Operatives: battle-hardened fighters who can be added to your squad;
– Subplots: these are mission-specific rules that can add rivalries, psychological and physical effects to your games;
– Rewards of Battle – a post-mission phase determining your squad’s recovery from injury, advancement of skills and gathering of promethium;
– a reference guide making managing campaigns easier, with blank roster sheets.As well as this, you’ll find the items needed to play the game itself:
– 3 translucent red plastic templates – a 3” small blast template, a 5” large blast template and an 8” teardrop-shaped flamer template, along with counters for identifying miniatures in states such as Overwatch and Hidden;
– a promethium tank counter and a bunker entrance counter, used for certain missions;
– 7 dice – 5xD6, a scatter die and an artillery die.AdvertisementShadow War: Armageddon can be expanded using a variety of existing Citadel miniatures. From the tab on the right you can download free PDFs containing rules for Adeptus Mechanicus, Chaos Space Marines, Dark Eldar, Eldar, Harlequins, Grey Knights, Necrons, Tau Empire, Tyranids and Genestealer Cults – these rules allow you to assemble kill teams made up of these armies, make use of their unique weapons and wargear, gain experience and skills in campaigns and recruit special operatives in the same way the kill teams from the rulebook can.
~We have much to cover all week – so check back soon. The biggest desicion is which faction I should start.
