Welcome to Starting Hex, where I ramble about Warhammer Underworlds. Embergard is here and with it come two new boards! If you want an extra challenge in reading this article in particular, take a shot every time you read the word “hex.” (Disclaimer: Do not do this! You will die!)
The Pen is Mightier Than the Board
One of the most prominent changes in this new edition of Warhammer Underworlds is the new playing board. In the previous edition, each player would present their own board and these two would line up together to form the battlefield for the game. That has been replaced with the new method in which there is a single board. The winner of the pre-game roll off will pick a face of the board and choose the orientation to decide which territory belongs to each player.
The impact of winning this roll off is going to be impactful for many reasons, but I want to focus on the board today. There are eight total combinations between facing and orientation, and choosing the right one will mean a combination of picking the side that will best facilitate your own game plans while hindering your opponent’s. Each setup is far from being symmetrical – whether it’s the starting hex placement or the positioning of hazard and blocked hexes, when you have the option to choose the battlefield it seems like a no-brainer that you’d want to make sure it’s the most advantageous it can be for you.
This is why I wanted to familiarize myself with the two boards, and instead of scribbling some notes down while talking to myself, I thought I would scribble those notes down while talking to myself, make them marginally prettier, and share them with the world. In the previous edition, there were some fantastic resources available if you knew where to look. Between WathLab’s posts on Reddit, a series on Flavius’s blog Monkey’s Hex, and more, there were pages upon pages of high level thoughts shared on the choices you have to make before even playing the game. All of these valued community members wrote at length about boards and treasure tokens (then called objective tokens), their placements, and how to make the most of them. I’m not remotely in the same league as these folks, but I felt inspired to throw my hat in the ring and at least start the conversation. This will be a little rambling and experimental. Consider this less of a prescriptive discussion of the correct choices and more a shared learning process where I’m trying to go beyond the surface level and bring you along for the ride. Heads up; it’s probably going to be bumpy.
Live by the Board, Die by the Board
Each of the board faces gives us 85 hexes that form the battlefield. Due to the requirement that any orientation of the board has to allow both edges to be a legal starting territory, the designers made sure that there are four “quadrants” that alternate between having three or four starting hexes. This way it’s ensured that no matter how the board is turned, each player will have seven starting hexes available to them.
One change that I am unhappy with is that the rulebook no longer includes nice pictures of the boards along with their official names. Not only did this mean I wouldn’t be able to just snag pictures out of the rulebook for talking about the boards, we as a community don’t have common names to refer to the different printed sides of the board. In order to have an easy way to refer to them in this write up, I’m going to assign names based on some of the background art. I also put together some simple diagrams that people are welcome to use and share if they want to mark them up with their own John Madden style scribbles. The first is Spinning Scythes, named for the two hazard hexes that look like busted lawnmower blades, or perhaps the bottom of a smoothie blender bottle. I called the second one Chained Pillars based on its blocked hexes, which the art seems to indicate are anchors where unlucky individuals would be chained up during arena fights or something equally unpleasant – like being restrained and forced to listen to nerds explain game rules.
These diagrams are oriented in the same was as the printed starting hex symbols are on the physical boards. I felt that this is as close to “this way up” that the boards would come with, so it’s at least a common starting point for looking at them. We’re also going to count the quadrants just like reading a book, so the top left is Quadrant 1, top right is Quadrant 2, bottom left is Quadrant 3, and bottom right is Quadrant 4. Just like this emoji 🔢! I initially was going to number them like the Cartesian coordinates, but I was told I was crazy by multiple people in the Goonhammer Discord as well as my beloved wife, who’s opinion I highly value.
Things To Consider
While looking at these boards, I think I’m going to be interested in a few things. The very first thing I’m doing as I look at these boards is consider their orientation. Next will be any of the starting hexes of note, as well as their overall distribution in relation to various parts of the board. Last will be the presence of and placement of the fancy hexes – the stagger hexes on each board and the blocked hexes on one of them.
After picking the board itself, its orientation is the first choice a player will have to make if they win the roll off. I quite like the terminology the folks over at Battle Mallet came up with for talking about which way the board is turned. They dubbed the orientations “fives” or “nines” based on the number of hexes that are in neutral territory.
Choosing “fives” for your orientation would be make one player’s territory quadrants 1 and 2 while the other player would use quadrants 3 and 4. This orientation will create the fewest number of hexes in neutral territory (five, unsurprisingly) which has a few ramifications. The first is that none of these hexes will be adjacent to each other. It will be more difficult to line up melee attacks from a fighter in neutral territory trying to hit another fighter in neutral territory, because range 1 won’t quite cut it. If you’re trying to control the neutral territory while knocking an enemy fighter off the treasure(s) also in that territory, this is going to make your life more difficult. This also means that if you wanted to shift a fighter in neutral territory with a push that can only push one hex, they’re necessarily going to have to wind up in one of the players’ territories. Another tidbit I noticed is that in this orientation, none of the neutral territory hexes are also edge hexes. We’ve already seen a handful of cards or warscrolls that specifically call out edge hexes, so this worth noting. I imagine these are all fairly minor things individually, but they could have an impact on your game–especially if this edition continues to value positioning as highly as the previous version did.
Conversely, if “nines” are the way the board is oriented, then one player will wind up with quadrants 1 and 3 with the other player having quadrants 2 and 4. This layout has a solid line of connecting hexes running across the middle and is the opposite of what we talked about in the last paragraph. You can attack from neutral to neutral with range 1 weapons, you can push a fighter 1 hex from neutral and have them land in neutral, and there are two edge hexes in this orientation. I also just find it interesting that we’re in a reversed situation from last edition – now, if you want the layout with the furthest distance between the back ends of each players’ territories, you’re going to wind up with the most hexes in neutral territory. In the previous edition, the infamous long board option resembled a long hallway and that layout only had two(!) neutral hexes total, while the more typical “square” looking deployment had seven.
For starting hexes, it’s important take into account the amount of fighters in both players’ warbands as well as the general playstyle the players plan to pursue. A lower fighter count will have the most flexibility in terms of choosing where they want to stage. Due to the quadrant nature of the starting hexes, a player will always have one half of their territory with three and the other with four. This means a three fighter warband has the most flexibility–not only in taking up the fewest amount of starting hexes, but also being able to fully skew their deployment to either side of their half of the board. A four fighter warband will always have to have at least one fighter in the four-hex quadrant, so by their very nature they won’t be able to fully skew to one side or the other. The more fighters you add in, the less freedom and flexibility a player will have with their deployment until you get to the seven fighter warbands (or nine; I love having to always carve out the caveat for Zarbag’s weirdos) that will require every starting hex to be used.
I also thought it would be interesting to check out what the average distance of the starting hexes was from neutral territory and the absolute center hex. My line of reasoning here is that from the way objectives are worded, there is strong incentive to brawl in the middle of the board, as well as invade your opponent’s side of the board. There’s no reference to the center hex in any rules, cards, or warbands (as of now at least!) but I thought it would be a useful measurement to consider. The values themselves aren’t necessarily metrics that I’d put too much stock in, but it does indicate the trends on each setup variant. This is using all seven starting hexes in each calculation, so if you have a smaller warband you can apply the same approach to see how far forward or back each potential deployment can allow you to be.
Starting hexes aren’t just the places you deploy your fighters, either. Many cards care about starting hexes. Commanding Stride is a ploy found in both Blazing Assault and Pillage & Plunder that allows you to push your leader 3 hexes, provided they land in a starting hex. Illusory Fighter is another ploy in Blazing Assault that teleports a friendly fighter from anywhere on the board to a starting hex in your territory. And while this is an entirely new edition, so nothing from the previous will necessarily carry over, there were also a fair number of warbands that cared about starting hexes for purposes of raising slain fighters so this could very well become an even more relevant factor once we get more warbands.
For the stagger and blocked hexes, I’m going to mostly focus on the stagger hexes. There are a few cards that care about the stagger hexes themselves in Pillage & Plunder as well as Countdown to Cataclysm. Tunnelling Terror, in the former deck, can teleport a fighter into an empty stagger hex. Canny Sapper is an upgrade in the same deck with a similar “teleport to a stagger hex” function to it that also can land on a starting hex in your territory. If you or your opponent are playing Pillage & Plunder, these are cards worth keeping in mind. Consider those stagger hexes as exit doors and position your fighters (or treasure tokens!) accordingly. Countdown to Cataclysm has a ploy called Violent Blast which can push every fighter within 1 hex of a stagger hex 1 hex. With these two decks in particular, I think there’s some merit to placing treasure tokens adjacent to the stagger hexes provided you think you can capitalize on it better than your opponent can.
The blocked hexes are only present on one of the two boards, so I’ll talk about them specifically when we get to the Chained Pillars.
Spinning Scythes
Overall, this board is highly symmetrical and the most “balanced” option between the two board faces. Each quadrant’s starting hexes are fairly centrally located. If oriented on “fives” then the top player will have one neutral-adjacent starting hex and the bottom player will have two – the second of which is actually adjacent to two neutral hexes at once. If it’s oriented on “nines” then there will be a stagger hex and starting hex adjacent to neutral territory on each players’ side.
For starting hexes of note, I want to point out that the top right one in quadrant 2 is the only starting hex on this board that is also an edge hex. Among other things, this allows you to set a fighter up to take advantage of something like the Emberwatch’s Vanguard Dash or the Emberstone Sentinel’s ploy Hidden Paths before ever having to move them. Additionally, since the edge hexes are not (typically) eligible to have treasure tokens placed on them, by having a starting hex there it’s freeing up another empty hex in your territory for some more treasure flexibility. The tradeoff for having an edge hex as a starting hex is that this quadrant will never have a starting point adjacent to neutral territory, which means you will need either a range 2 melee attack or a ranged attack to threaten any of those hexes.
Quadrants 1 and 4 are the only ones that can start a fighter adjacent to neutral territory regardless of orientation – fortunately, since they’re diagonal opposites, it means the same player will never control both of them.
Time for some hexagon counting. If placed in “fives” orientation, the top half of the board will have starting hexes an average of 2.28 away from neutral territory and 3.71 from the center hex. The bottom half is marginally closer at 2.14 to neutral territory and 3.29 to the center. The bottom half also has two starting hexes right up against the neutral territory line that, if you assume a fighter with 3 move and a range 1 attack, can threaten a charge on every enemy starting hex between the two of them. Good to know if you’re playing an aggressive gameplan without being a particularly fast warband.
If placed in the “nines” orientation, the left side of the board will have an average distance of 2.71 from the midline and 3.43 from the center, while the right side of the board has an average of 2.86 to neutral territory and 3.57 to the center – the edge hex in particular is 5 away from both targets in this orientation which feels immense compared to the others. Our theoretical move 3, range 1 attack warbands aren’t going to have nearly as much coverage on either side in this orientation. Both the left and right could threaten 4 enemy starting hexes, leaving more of the backfield ones out of reach unless the fighters have more speed, reach, or tricks.
Each player will have one stagger hex in their territory no matter the orientation. This stagger hex is in the quadrant with four starting hexes and each player will have two starting hexes touching their stagger hex with another starting hex within two of it. Compared to the other board face, these stagger hexes have more starting hexes clustered around them – both more adjacent to and also more in the same quadrant. I feel like these clusters could become focal points for engagements, especially if any treasure tokens are placed nearby.
Chained Pillars
Similarly to the other board, the stagger hexes are in opposite quadrants and the blocked hexes are also in different opposite quadrants, meaning that any potential board orientation will ensure each player has one blocked hex and one stagger hex. Compared to Spinning Scythes, the Chained Pillars board has a much more asymmetrical layout, so board orientation is going to matter quite a bit here.
If the board is placed in “fives,” then the bottom setup is going to feel more aggressive – it has two starting hexes adjacent to neutral territory (including a special one I’ll touch on later). The top territory here only has a single starting hex threatening neutral. Oriented on “nines” results in the blocked hexes being right up against neutral territory. The left side winds up being the one with the most forward reaching starting hexes. The right side’s stagger hex is much further back, making it both less likely to be in the thick of the fight but also making it a prime landing location for left teleporting into right’s back line should the relevant cards be present.
I think the most impactful starting hex here has to be the far forward one in quadrant 3. Not only does this starting hex begin adjacent to two neutral territory hexes in either orientation, it also allows whatever warband holds it to threaten a massive amount of the board. If you want to invade, this is a prime quadrant to make sure you get. If you know your opponent wants to get up close and you’d rather not, do what you can to make sure they do not have access to quadrant 3. Aside from this one, there’s another starting hex that is in an edge hex much like what Spinning Scythes has. Unlike Spinning Scythes, the edge starting hex in quadrant 4 here will only be a back line hex in the “fives” orientation – on “nines” it’s right up on the border of neutral territory.
Counting hexagons for “fives” and starting with the top territory yields averages of 2.27 to neutral and 3.57 to center. The bottom counts out to an average of 2.14 to neutral and 3.29 to center. Tallying them for “nines” layout has the left side averaging 2.57 to neutral and 3.29 to center; the right side is also 2.57 to neutral but 3.57 to the central hex. The numbers are interesting, because despite the averages being similar in many cases, the individual hexes are distributed differently in each quadrant. Neat.
The stagger hexes are much less symmetrical on this board than the other. Quadrant 1 has two starting hexes adjacent to a fairly centrally located stagger hex while quadrant 4’s stagger hex is only adjacent to one starting hex and either in the back or right on the midfield line depending on orientation.
This is the only board with blocked hexes and they are mirrored in their positions – 2 hexes away from the center and butting up against the edge of “nines” layout neutral territory. I have yet to play a game on this board, so I’m not sure how impactful these blocked hexes are in practice, but the fact that they’re fairly centrally located means they will be involved in any center line skirmishes.
Closing Thoughts
This is just the tip of the iceberg on diving into the importance of board selection. Treasure token placement wasn’t even touched on, and that’s going to have a whole slew of things to consider.
I know the initial reaction of many was to bemoan the change in boards for the new edition of Underworlds. There were complaints that it was simplifying the pre-game decisions and making player skill less important. I won’t deny those are true statements, but I also don’t think that these are bad changes for the game. The pre-game process benefited from the trim both in steps and information overload. There’s still an element of skill expression available with the current rules. I’m looking forward to winning the roll off, setting up the board, and then halfway through round 1 realizing I made a horrible mistake so I can learn from it. But this way, I feel like it’s going to be more likely to have mistakes that can be learning opportunities rather than obtuse “I’m pretty sure I screwed myself up but can’t tell why” situations.
I hope this was at least useful as a way to jump start your own look at the environments that Embergard has for us to play on. As I said, it was mostly me trying to find patterns or unique things about different potential layouts and how they could be best used – I’m absolutely sure I missed vital things, and if you agree then please let me know. There’s a comment field on the Goonhammer articles, you can message me directly in the Goonhammer Discord, and you can also find me hanging out in many of the Underworlds Discord communities. I think there’s a ton of room for further discussion on this topic and I’d love to see folks in the community chime in.
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