Warmachine: High Command – The Bigs Guns and Into the Breach Expansion Review
We’ve had High Command in our lives for seven months now, and there are already multiple expansions released for the game. Let’s take a look at what they are and how they interact with the base set.
For those unfamiliar with High Command, I suggest starting out by giving our original review a skim so that you understand the basics of the game.
When constructing your Reinforcement Deck, the core set simply has you choose the base black detachment and three of the colored detachments available to you based on whichever three warcasters you choose. With just the core set, the detachments themselves are immutable, so if you choose the red detachment, you simply pull all of the red cards and they go into your Reinforcement Deck. The expansions for High Command change this by introducing new cards to swap in to your detachments.
This is a fantastic way to leverage the decidedly consumer-friendly distribution method employed by Fantasy Flight Games known as the “Living Card Game” with the wildly popular deck building genre of card games. Now, sure, games like Dominion and Quarriors have expansions as well, but what makes this a unique case is the fact that High Command does not use a shared market, rather each individual player creates their own market as they see fit. Where expansions for other deck building games introduce new mechanics, these merely serve to maintain player interest.
With High Command, individual customization serves to create an external metagame based around market construction. Where previously the metagame was limited to simple detachment selection, now detachments can be customized. This allows High Command to function in an environment not unlike Magic: The Gathering, Android: Netrunner, or Legend of the Five Rings. A player can simply show up to their LGS with their four detachments and three warcasters and play a game against anyone else similarly equipped (provided someone also has the Winds of War and Location cards).
So, let’s jump into the expansion themselves.
The Big Guns –
Before discussing the new cards, I should point out that spoiler information for all of these cards can be found on Privateer Press’s website if you want to give them a closer look.
Cygnar’s new warcaster is Allister Caine, boasting a decent Power value of 3 and the ability to destroy an enemy card at his location with a Health value equal to or below his Power. This makes assets that can adjust enemy health or Caine’s Power of great value to him, particularly Lancers and Hunters.
Cygnar’s other new cards are Arcane Tempest Gun Mages, Avengers, Hunters, and Trencher Heavy Artillery Teams. Gun Mages provide flexibility on the field by being able to choose between Superior Range as a defensive measure or +1 Power if they need extra punch. Avengers have fantastic all-around stats, reasonble cost, and are worth 2 VP, potentially allowing for Cygnar players to pursue VP purchasing strategies in lieu of simply scoring locations. Hunters are great for taking on heavy threats that sit at locations and never die, a strategy often employed by Khador players who are more interested in simply purchasing VPs and denying captures instead of actually aggressively capturing locations themselves. Trencher Heavy Artillery Teams have a strong application against enemy players who rely on swarms of infantry to hold locations thanks to the Blast rule.
The Protectorate’s new warcaster is The High Reclaimer. His primary ability is to move a warrior card with a purchase cost of 3 or less from the discard pile to his location. Be mindful that this can be used to pull cards that were just purchased from Reserves as well.
Their other new cards are the Deliverer Skyhammers, Deliverer Sunburst Detachment, Redeemer, and Vanquisher. Skyhammers are super-cheap fodder that just also happen to be good at killing super-cheap fodder as well. The Sunburst Detachment is also on the thrifty side of things, provides a VP, and benefits from other friendly cards at the location in the form of increased Power, making it a solid addition to an infantry-heavy build. Redeemers allow you to move a card from your hand to occupying forces to gain +2 Power. This is a great way to effectively cull your deck of some of the less-strong resource cards from your black detachment. Vanquishers are aggressively-costed at 5 to Purchase, and are worth 2 VP, but don’t hit terribly hard at 1 Power. However, its Flame Belcher rule reduces the Health of all enemy cards at its location by causing them to suffer Fire, making them more effective the more enemy cards are present.
Koldun Kommander Aleksandra Zerkova is the new addition to Khador’s warcaster pool. While her Power 1 is depressingly low, her ability, Howling Wind, allows her to return a card at her location to its owner’s hand, allowing her to turn the tide of any battle by removing whatever problem card might be occupying her location.
Khador’s four other new cards are the Berserker, Decimator, Man-O-War Bombadier Korps, and Winter Guard Artillery Korps. The Berserker is a budget warjack at three to-Purchase and five to-Rush that packs a decent punch at 3 Power, but the Berserk ability causes it to be destroyed if it clears out a location of enemy cards. The Decimator is another solid new addition to purple and red detachments with its reasonable Purchase 5, decent survivability at 6 Health, and it’s also worth 1 VP. With its Sustained Attack ability, it makes for a great nutcracker at locations guarded by a single tough enemy card. The Bombadier Korps are worth an impressive 2 VP, are decently survivable, and with the Blast rule are great at clearing out locations swarmed by warriors. The Artillery Korps is another cheap-to-purchase card that benefits in terms of damage output if its at a location with other friendly cards, pairing well with regular, old Winterguard Infantry.
Cryx’s new warcaster is Lord Exhumator Scaverous. Scaverous boasts decent hitting strength at Power 3, and his Black Gate ability reduces both Purchase and Rush costs by 1 CMD or 1 WAR, making him a great choice for swarm compositions built around Mechanithrall Hordes or other cheap options.
For their detachments, Cryx receives the Defiler, Leviathan, Revenant Cannon Crew, and Revenant Rifle Crew. The Defiler is a cheaply-costed warjack with the Spray Weapon ability, which allows it to do 2 damage to all enemy cards at its location if there are no other friendly cards present, making it a great way to disrupt and destroy enemy swarms of cheap infantry. The Leviathan is another budget warjack worth 1 VP that does fair damage to warjacks and warbeasts at its location, but doesn’t fair as well against infantry. The Cannon Crew another budget infantry card that is worth 1 VP that allows you to deploy a non-Character Revanant card from your hand if you destroyed one or more enemy warriors models during an attack at that location. The Rifle Crew similarly brings recursion in the form of Death Ties, which allows you to return one Revenant Card from your discard pile to your hand if it destroyed one or more enemy cards at its location.
Into the Breach –
Cygnar’s new warcaster in Into the Breach is Constance Blaize, Knight of the Prophet. While she can bring some strength the battlefield at Power 3, her real wealth lies in her ability Divine Intervention, which stops all Friendly warrior cards at her location from being destroyed. This can act as a solid way to hold a location for a crucial turn to stop your opponent from scoring, or can be a way to maintain a stronghold to help you capture it on your following turn.
The new Cygnar detachment cards are the Centurion, Sentinel, Trencher Commando Team, and the Trencher Scattergunner Team. The Centurion is a fantastic addition to purple and red detachments due to its super-high Health 7, and it is also fantastic for taking on other single defenders thanks to the Sustained Attack ability as seen on the Decimator. It’s additionally worth 1 VP. The Sentinel brings decent survivability with its Health 5 and the Covering Fire ability that reduces overall enemy Power at its location by. Where the Centurion is a solid solo defender, the Sentinel acts better in tandem with other cards at a location. The Trencher Commando Team is another card well-suited for solo action thanks to the Assassinate rule, allowing it to skip the attack step and instead destroy one enemy warrior card at its location with 4 Health or less. It’s a nice addition to a green or blue attachment that also brings 1 VP with it. The Trencher Scattergunner Team is a fairly cheap to-Purchase and Rush card with the Spray Weapon ability as seen on the Defiler. The combination of the cheap Rush cost and Spray Weapon give the player some potential quick response to hordes of enemy warrior cards.
The new Protectorate of Menoth warcaster in Into the Breach is High Executioner Servath Reznik. At Power 4, he hits a bit harder than most of the competition, and his ability, Judgment Day, allows him to manipulate enemy Reserves by forcing every player to refresh a card of your choice when he is rushed.
For new detachment cards, Protectorate gains the Castigator, Daughters of the Flame, Dervish, and Flameguard Cleanser Phalanx. The Castigator is a pillow-fisted warjack at Power 1, but its relatively cheap at Purchase 4 WAR, it’s worth 1 VP, and its Combustion ability allows it to automatically destroy one enemy warrior card at its location with 2 Health or less, making the Castigator a nice option for turning a battle where weak infantry are present across the table. Daughters of the Flame act much like Trencher Commando Teams with their Assassinate ability. While they are cheaper at Purchase 3 CMD/Rush 5 CMD, they do pay for it by losing one Health and the VP. Dervishes are budget warjacks at Purchase 3 WAR/Rush 4 WAR that hit at Power 3 if there are two or more enemy cards at its location, making several of them pair well with rushed warcasters. The Cleanser Phalanx is another cheap VP-scoring card at Purchase 3 CMD. While it doesn’t hit hard at Power 1, its Fire ability reduces the Health of one enemy card at its location by 1.
Khador sees the arrival of Kommander Harkevich, the Iron Wolf, whose special ability allows him to double the base Power of one friendly warjack card at his location. This could allow him to turn the bargain Purchase 3 WAR Berserker warjack into an effective Power 7 killing machine.
Khador’s new detachment cards are the Assault Kommando Kompany, Devastator, Kommando Flamethrower Kompany, and Marauder. The Assault Kommando Kompany brings 1 VP with its decent 4 Health and Alchemical Mask ability, allowing them to ignore other abilities that would reduce their Health. Devastators are solid placeholder with their Rain of Death ability, which both boosts them up to Health 7 and automatically destroys all enemy cards at its location with Health 3 or less. At 4 WAR to Purchase and being worth 1 VP, they’re a really strong addition to yellow and blue detachments. Kommando Flamethrower Kompanies are much like Cleansers, save with higher base Power and lacking their VP value. Marauders are fantastic for removing glass cannons from troublesome engagements with their Slam Attack rule, which allows you to return one enemy card at its location with 3 Health or less to its owners hand when the Marauder is deployed or rushed. While it is a little pricey at 6 WAR to-Purchase, it is worth 2 VP.
Master Necrotech Mortenebra finds her way into High Command for Cryx in Into the Breach. Like Reznik, she hits surprisingly hard at Power 4, somewhat balancing out her less-than-super-exciting ability, Recalibration, which allows the player to move one friendly card from another location to Mortenebra’s location. Still, it can potentially be used to draw attention away from a desired location, but care must obviously be taken so that you don’t inadvertently give up the location that you’re moving a card away from.
Cryx’s four detachment cards are the Atramentous Revenant Crew, Bile Thrall Horde, Corruptor, and Scavenger. The Atramentous Revenant Crew is not the strongest tool in the box for simple damage purposes with its Power 1, but Deathbound allows you to deploy this card from your hand if any enemy warrior cards at any location were destroyed during your turn. They also synergize well with the Revenant cards from The Big Guns as well for their recursive mechanics. Bile Thralls likewise aren’t a threat in terms of their damage output at Power 0, but their cheap Purchase cost of 2 and Purge ability allows them to wage war on the enemy’s hand by forcing discards. The Corruptor is a solid warjack at 5 to-Purchase and being worth 2 VP. While it’s not the sturdiest of warjacks at Health 4, its Distillation ability allows you to reinforce your hand when you destroy enemy cards at its location. The Scavenger is one of the most interesting cards of both sets. At 4 Purchase/4 Rush, its use as a fast-reaction card is obvious. While it doesn’t hit hard at 2 Power, its ability, Finisher, states that at the end of your turn, if there is only one enemy card at the Scavenger’s location, destroy that card, potentially allowing the Scavenger to destroy even the toughest cards in the game if it survives to use Finisher.
The Verdict –
Overall, I’m pretty excited about how the expanded content for High Command has been shaping up. Where before, it felt like there were usually about two solid, viable detachment combinations, the ability to swap in cards not only makes it so that you can shake up those few combinations, but others are beginning to emerge as well.
If High Command quickly turned stale for you after you picked it up after GenCon, I’d seriously consider giving these new expansions a look since they do a pretty solid job of shaking up the game.
Stay tuned for future articles on High Command. Soon we’ll be taking a look at detachment construction using these new expansions.
