In recent weeks a lot has happened in the ASOIAF:TMG from rules released on the War Council App, to big events taking place across Europe, and changes to the development of the main game and skirmish game. We will be covering all of these in this article.
Fabio Curry Leaves the Development Team
For many years one of our lead designers for the miniatures game has been Fabio Curry. Whenever there is a live stream going over a new update there is always Fabio to explain the thought process around the changes. He has been an integral part of the game for a long time now and has decided to move on to future endeavors with Loot Studios and their new game Malediction.
Malediction is a miniatures card game which combines deck building with miniatures in a skirmish playstyle. Loot Studios have been around for a while with their STLs being great models for role playing games and they even have a section where you can print miniatures for the Arkham Horror board game.
There are currently four Factions for the game. The first is Primal Blood, which reminds me of a savage tribe warband filled with berserkers who revel in the glory of combat. From the description they have a glasshammer playstyle being able to dish out a lot of hurt but with limited defensive capabilities.
Conclave of the Spheres is second, and gives off an Artificer vibe from D&D, where engineering and magic fuse together. We can see a golem-like creature alongside magic and artefacts. Their playstyle is stated around control, so having a plan and setting it up is the aim of the game for these, whilst mentioning they prefer to engage in ranged combat with their spells.
Legion of the Fallen is the third Faction, they are the undead Faction but take it to a whole new level with these miniatures and is something that is rarely seen in undead Factions in most games. They have a unique blend of skeletal, zombie, and masters of necromancy to them. They are a mix of debuffing and swarming which is an interesting concept.
The final Faction is the Order of the Shattered Throne, this is your paladin Faction with holy knights and angels guiding your forces and is an interesting contrast to the evil undead forces from the Legion of the Fallen. They are the most defensive force in the game being the most resilient but have an aggressive playstyle at the same time. All these Factions have interesting design in rules and models which I am looking forward to sinking my teeth into.
One of the reasons I love ASOIAF:TMG so much is the developers find ways to accurately represent the story and characterisation in rules. Hats off to Fabio who has provided these aspects throughout the years that has allowed us to create incredible experiences on the tabletop with our friends! I can’t wait to see what Fabio does with Malediction and wish the whole team luck on it.
You can test play Malediction with their Print and Play system on Gamefound here.
Skyreach Bowmen
The Skyreach Bowmen were revealed a while ago but have finally been added to the War Council App with the Unit not starting to hit shelves in some places in the world. This is the first Long Ranged Unit for Martells, which is an important piece in a roster that can catapult a Faction into high play. Lannisters’ have seen mch success with double Long Ranged Units in the Crossbowmen, with other Factions seeing great performances when bringing in Golden Company Crossbowmen. The meta seems to be leaning towards Long Ranged Units although there are quite a few different strategies in the game at high play.
Skyreach is the ancestral home of House Fowler who is one of the First Men that remain to this day. I hope we see more of them in the future as they could possibly have some information of the White Walkers’ past throughout the generations. House Fowler has not had a significant presence in the War of the Five Kings era, but the Fowler twins, Jeyne and Jennelyn, are lovers of Nymeria Sand which brings a form of conflict when Arianne wants to confide with Lord Franklyn Fowler, and Doran is unsure where is allegiance may lie if the twins are loyal to Nymeria Sand. We also learn through Arianne in A Feast For Crows that they are one of the most powerful houses in Dorne and have a rivalry with the Yronwoods.
Skyreach Bowmen are a flimsy Unit that will die to the weakest Units in the game if they are caught since they have terrible melee and defence stats. However, what helps them is the Outflank ability to get them into position to do some damage before the opponent seeks them out. Their attacking power at Long Range is what has people in an uproar. They gain rerolls to hit and a Vulnerable token against a Unit that has not activated, similar to the Bolton Cutthroats but for ranged attacks instead of melee.
The combination of hitting on 3s with seven attacks, then combined with rerolls and a Vulnerable token is combining to become a problem for some people in the community. Whilst I see people upset with this combination saying it is too powerful, I don’t see them having the same concerns over Crossbowmen or the new Brotherhood Archers, all of which can gain rerolls. Furthermore, if the Skyreach Bowen didn’t have this ability, then a Vulnerable token is easy to find, and so it rerolls since most people are bringing Skirmishes with the Order for Scout Openings. If they had any other rules, it would be even stronger or left at home in favour of Skirmishes which people are spamming two of in almost every high playing list.
My favourite Commander is Daemon Sand who loves the new Bowmen. His card, A Need For Vengeance, allows a free attack at the start of a round, which can pair well with the Bowmen who want to attack a Unit before it has activated. However, I don’t see any of their rules being synergistic with other Commanders. They are a Long-Ranged Unit that gives a Martell player pressure at Long Range instead of getting close with Skirmishers. They’re a great addition that I doubt will be a problem, but things can always be different on the table as opposed to reading stats off paper.
Promo Miniatures – Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower
An event in Poland took place recently called Realms Of Battle hosted by Warfactory, and it is the largest event of the year with over 200 players taking part at the event. At the event, players were able to pick up a promo of Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower from the King’s Landing set coming with the ASOIAF: Tactics Gamefound campaign. With this, CMON have released NCU rules for each character for the miniatures game which has resulted in an adverse effect from the community.
Rhaenyra Targaryen can twice per game hand out a Weakened and Vulnerable token to an enemy Unit when it activates for 4pts. Targaryen’s don’t have a lot of ways to generate tokens so this is a strong addition to their NCU roster, the added bonus is using it when an enemy activates which would be a defensive boon to your force to get a Weakened token out that is unlikely to be removed before it can be useable. Rhaenyra is strong but completely fine for the game and helps boost the already strong Targaryen Faction when combined with Mother of Dragons.
Alicent Hightower can replace a Tactics Zone’s effect with placing a condition token out on an enemy Unit, but you can do this per zones controlled by both players. If she is the fifth NCU to activate and take a zone, then this would generate five conditions tokens. This is an incredibly powerful ability that should result in her being an expensive NCU since the best in the game can only do three condition tokens with some caveats of once per game. She can do it every turn, for 4pts. This is incredibly broken, there is no reason for a Targaryen player to ever leave home without her. I would recommend changing her points to represent the rule but at 6pts this could still be very usable. The rule itself needs changing to reduce the number of tokens, either remove the opponents controlling NCUs that add towards the effect, or max it out at three tokens. No matter what the developers do this needs to change.
Fortunately, CMON has given a statement about the rules for these two promo miniatures which reduces the stress from players for upcoming events. These rules are listed under Playtest Files & Previews suggesting they are not finalised and are instead released for people to test around. Furthermore, CMON says “Please note that these characters are not tournament legal until the retail release of A Song of Ice and Fire: Tactics next year.” Hopefully this also means after they have been looked over again for a tweak to the rules before release. Right now, you can use them in casual games, but I would discuss with your opponent first before playing them.
Realms of Battle First Place Controversy
Realms of Battle was an incredible event to successfully have 200 players play eight games over a weekend. Hits and Crits live streamed the event over on YouTube which allowed people not attending the event to look at what was happening. The live streams saw brilliant players from around Europe take part and show off their skills, from well-known players in the community to a young player who had a stellar performance.
After eight rounds, a player went undefeated at the event with a Cortnay Penrose led Baratheon force sporting some assistance from Golden Company Crossbowmen. However, during the eighth round live stream there was several people watching that commented on the playstyle of the to be winner. Sloppy play was called out multiple times by the audience with measuring and not talking through movements with the opponent.
A statement made by one of the organisers of the event did agree with the commenters on the precision of the player’s movements in the game, and thus declared the actions as illegal and intentional misplay. Following this the winner was removed from the tournament standing on ASOIAF-Stats, as well as losing the title of winner of the event. The player is banned from future events for a year organised with Warfactory, and it looks like the player has been removed from ASOIAF-Stats but not too sure what has happened there. There was also mention of a few other players and their etiquette at the event.
Why is this worth talking about? Sportsmanship and gaming etiquette are the most important things to bring with you to an event. People are gathering from long distances and sometimes from other countries to play a bunch of games for a hobby they love with a community they adore. They don’t have a choice who they play, and it is vastly disrespectful to come with an attitude of win at all costs including fudging your game to enact a win. It is a knock-on effect, not only to the standings but morale of that player which may pass on to others through a toxic atmosphere. Above all, it shouldn’t have to be explicitly said to not cheat in a game. We can all make mistakes or misremember interpretations, but there is a difference between this and mis-measuring for advantage, especially through a pre-measure.
I am glad Warfactory dealt with this in a professional and timely manner that is being regarded as a fair and suitable resolution. I am happy to see they plan to improve their rules of conduct to account for these issues, and that they are endeavoring towards a friendly and welcoming gaming environment. Hits and Crits who streamed the event were in a very difficult position of seeing the issue, reading the comments live of the issue, and then not getting involved. Streamers at events are not judges and they cannot interact with the game at any stage. Judges won’t know what is happening until it is specifically called out in the moment for a judge to come over. It is one of those situations where it is down to a player’s agency in the moment which is something people refrain from doing out of politeness to not cause conflict.
There were countless other games at the event that were an incredible experience for all players. One bad apple could have ruined the bunch, but overall, there were a lot of positives to take away, and Warfactory has handled this excellently with what they have been capable of doing. It is this endeavoring to a better experience that makes this community well loved by many.
WARfare 2024 – A New Type of Event
An event recently took place in the UK at WARfare 2024. This was a new style which had two separate one day events across the weekend. A 40pts event on the Saturday and a 30pt event on the Sunday. The 40pts event was the usual, but the 30pts was a highlander style event which limited you to one list with no duplicates of Units and Attachments except for the double Unit you get in the Starter Set which you can bring two of.
Seeing a new style of event take place is incredibly encouraging for the community allowing them to play the game in a different way and therefore keep it fresh whilst waiting for new Units and Rules. Having it be two separate days may give people who are travelling more choice and how much they want to dedicate themselves to the weekend of gaming which can put some people off. But also creating a unique tournament rule set for the 30pts game gets the creative juices flowing in list design.
Dice of Lead & Steel Wargaming hosted the event with plans to do the same next year as well as an event in Reading soon and perhaps a new Midlands GT. I look forward to attending an event in the future, but more so playing a differently designed event! Congratulations to the organisers of the weekend.
That is it for some of the updates and topics in the community at the moment. We will be continuing with our Brotherhood releases review and a community spotlight over the next few weeks so stay tuned.
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