There’s a lot going on in the Warhammer Shattered Cities Board. Let’s take a look and break down the cards for leader’s expansion. Check it out!
Last time we looked at the Warhammer Shattered Cities Board and the warband specific cards from the leader deck.
Underworlds Leader Expansion Changes The Game Again
The Leaders expansion which has two cards unique to every warband and another 44 cards that can be used by any warband.
More Game Changing Cards: Underworlds Leaders Review
Today we are going to finish up looking at the universal cards for leader’s expansion, which has a whopping 44 cards.
Universal Objectives:
- Bold Advance (1 Glory): Score this in the first end phase if your leader is in enemy territory.
- Drawing Focus (1 Glory): Score this immediately if your leader is chosen by three or more ploys in this phase.
- Fearless Leader (1 Glory): Score this in an end phase if your leader is the only friendly fighter adjacent to any enemy fighters.
- Great Slayer (2 Glory): Score this immediately if your leader takes three or more enemy fighters out of action in this phase.
- Impervious (2 Glory): Score this in an end phase if your leader is on the battlefield and was the target of three or more Attack actions in the preceding action phase.
- Linchpin (1 Glory): Score this immediately if your leader was a supporting fighter during three or more Attack actions this phase.
- Neutralise (2 Glory): Score this in the first end phase if an enemy leader is out of action.
- Shining Example (1 Glory): Score this in an end phase if your leader is on the battlefield and Inspired.
- Slayer (1 Glory): Score this immediately if your leader takes two or more enemy fighters out of action in this phase.
- Sufficient (1 Glory): Score this in an end phase if your leader is the only friendly fighter on the battlefield.
- Tireless Commander (1 Glory): Score this in an end phase if you activated your leader with four activations in the preceding action phase.
- Undefeated (1 Glory): Score this in the third end phase if your leader is on the battlefield.
- Well Guarded (1 Glory): Score this in an end phase if your leader is adjacent to two or more friendly fighters.
I love a lot of these cards, especially Undefeated for any larger warband where you are sending underlings to dish out damage. Bold Advance is a strong card to grab easy glory in more aggressive decks. Some of the cards work better with certain factions like Drawing Focus in a Spiteclaw Deck or Impervious in a defensive Magore’s Fiends deck. Overall though you could find a use for these in many different decks.
Universal Ploys:
- Burden of Command: Choose an enemy leader, Their Move characteristic (before other modifiers) is 1 for the next activation.
- Cautious Commander: Put your leader on Guard
- Commanding Reach: Your leader’s first Attack action with a Range of 1 that only targets a single fighter in the next activation has a Range of 2.
- Commanding Strike: You can re-roll one attack dice during your leader’s first Attack action in the next activation.
- Crippling Doubt: Choose an enemy leader. The Dice characteristic (before other modifiers) of their first Attack action in the next activation is 1.
- Final Duty: Reaction: Play this during an Attack action that will take your leader out of action, before they are removed from the battlefield. Roll an attack dice. On a roll of hammer or critical, make an Attack action with them before they are removed from the battlefield.
- Great Cunning: Reaction: Play this after you play a power card in the power step. You can immediately play another power card. You can only play this if your leader is on the battlefield.
- Hidden Reserves: Remove one wound token from your leader’s fighter card.
- Inspired Command: Choose a friendly fighter (other than your leader) and push them up to one hex or put them on Guard. You can only play this if your leader is on the battlefield.
- Look Out: Reaction: Play this during an Attack action that will damage your leader. Roll a defense dice. On a roll of half circle, full circle, or critical, choose a friendly fighter adjacent to them. That fighter suffers the damage instead, then 1 additional damage, and no fighters are driven back.
- No Retreat: Reaction: Play this during an Attack action that targets your leader, after the dice are rolled. Your leader cannot be driven back by this Attack action.
- Premonition: In the next activation, you can re-roll one or more defense dice, when your leader is the target of an Attack action.
- Quick Advance: Choose up to two friendly fighters (other than your leader) and push each of them up to one hex. You can only play this if your leader is on the battlefield.
- Quick Manoeuvre: Choose your leader and an adjacent friendly fighter. Switch their positions.
- Tyrant’s Command: Choose a friendly fighter (other than your leader) that has a Move token. Remove that token: that fighter is not considered to have moved for purposes of their subsequent actions. You can only play this if your leader is on the battlefield.
I like these ploys a lot some of my favorites being Burden of Command, Commanding Reach, Commanding Strike, Hidden Reserves, and Tyrant’s Command. You could put those into almost any deck and they would be useful. I especially like the Quick Advance and Quick Manoeuvre for Spiteclaw’s Swarm decks as it makes you much more aggressive and inspires two of your rats at the same time.
Universal Upgrades:
- Apex Predator (Leader Only): When this fighter takes an enemy leader out of action, gain an additional glory point.
- Commanding Presence (Leader Only): This fighter is considered to be two supporting fighters when it supports another fighter.
- Commanding Shout (Leader Only): Action: Push a friendly fighter (other than you leader) up to two hexes.
- Cursed Shield (Leader Only): +1 Defence, -2 Wounds (to a minimum of 1)
- Hero’s Mantle (Leader Only): If this fighter is on the battlefield in the third end phase, gain 1 glory point.
- Irresistible Challenge (Leader Only): Reaction: During an adjacent enemy fighter’s Attack action, before any dice are rolled, change the target of that Attack action to this fighter and discard this card.
- Katophrane’s Ring: Cumulative armor that if you have two pieces allows you to reroll defense dice. At three pieces reroll attack dice. At four pieces After this fighter’s action you draw two power cards. Finally, at six pieces you gain four glory points.
- Kingsblade: Range 1, 2 Dice (Duel Swords), 3 Damage. If the target of this attack is a leader, you can re-roll one attack dice when making this Attack action.
- Loyal Defender: Reaction: After an enemy fighter makes a Move action and ends their movement adjacent to another friendly fighter that is your leader, push this fighter up to two hexes. They must end the push adjacent to the enemy fighter.
- Master of Tactics (Leader Only): If this fighter is on the battlefield, at the beginning of the round you can draw one objective card. If you do so, discard one objective card.
- Mighty Shove (Leader Only): Push an adjacent enemy fighter up to one hex.
- Rising to the Challenge: If your leader is out of action, this fighter had +1 Wounds, and the Attack actions on their fighter card have +1 Dice.
- Seize the Day (Leader Only): Reaction: After this fighter makes a Move action (not as part of a charge action) discard this card. They do not gain a Move token and are not considered to have moved for the purposes of their subsequent actions.
- Treacherous Second: Reaction: After an action or ploy that takes your leader out of action, if this fighter is on the battlefield, gain 1 glory point.
- Trusted Second: If this fighter is supporting your leader, they are considered to be two supporting fighters.
- Tyrant’s Lash (Leader Only): Reaction: After an adjacent friendly fighter’s Attack action that fails, that fighter takes 2 damage. If they survive, they can then make another Attack action.
Some of these are great while others lack usefulness. Apex Predator is great to match up with Garreks Reavers and you can get 3 Glory points per kill, or Hero’s Mantle for Objective based decks to get a bonus glory point. Kingsblade is great if you can buff that with ploys, while Tyrant’s Lash is only usable if you’re looking to kill your own warband (which there might work with Magore’s Fiends). My favorite might be Treacherous Second though as it gives you’re a glory point for your leader going out of action which works great with Spiteclaw’s Swarm.
Verdict:
I love these cards and think they really bring a lot of different options to how you want to play your warbands, and for 18 bucks it is not a terrible deal either. (Half the cost of a new warband)
Is it a must buy? No, but if you want to add some variety to your warbands and give them a unique flair this is a great buy. I will for sure be adding and changing up the decks we built previously (can see them clicking here and here) from the season 1 warbands to include them!
About the Author: Travis Perkins
An avid homebrewer and Detroit sports fan (yes even the Lions). I am new to the world of wargamming and very much enjoying the journey. If you have any suggestions or comments feel free to comment on the article or email me at perki116@msu.edu
