40k Fans get ready to let the galaxy burn with Fantasy Flight Games’ newest board game set in the grim dark future!
Hot on the heels of their 40k Relic board game property, FFG just announced Forbidden Stars. Unlike Relic, which uses the Talisman playstyle, this looks to be a new sort of game where players battle over planets / systems.
Via FFG
In Forbidden Stars, a board game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, two to four players command factions battling to control the long-forgotten Herakon Cluster. For millennia, unrelenting and impenetrable Warp Storms closed off this sector of the galaxy, concealing its ancient treasures, and priceless resources. Now, although a few warp storms still occur, a safe passage has opened up at last. Competing factions are rapidly descending upon the Herakon Cluster, bringing death and destruction in their wake. They will stop at nothing to control this sector, and are ready to drench its worlds in the blood of millions and scorch them with the ravenous flames of war.
Dominate the Herakon Cluster
Occupy unclaimed planets. Build massive armies. Fight for a long-forgotten sector of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
The Galaxy’s Mighty Factions
Four powerful factions have sent their armies to take control of the Herakon Cluster. The Imperium has dispatched the Ultramarines Chapter of the Space Marines, famous for their discipline, honour, and unwavering loyalty to the Emperor. Seeking to claim the sector for chaos are the World Eaters Chaos Space Marines, once the most dreaded and savage of all Space Marine legions, now servants of the Blood God and bitter enemies to all mankind. The Evil Sunz clan of Orks brings their battlewagons and rampaging hordes to ravage, loot, and wreak havoc upon as many worlds as possible. So too come Eldar from the Craftworld Iyanden, with legions of Aspect Warriors and Wraithguards, believing that fate has brought them to this expanse of the void.
Each faction features a range of units and ships, allowing you to grow your army over the course of the game. Faction-specific combat decks convey each faction’s unique means of war and tactical strengths, so that no two armies fight alike, and no two battles are the same.
War Is Inevitable
War can erupt in any system at any time. Armies may duel over a planet, ships over control of a void, or ships can rain down destruction upon an enemy world. Battles are rarely over instantaneously, and the tide may turn unexpectedly.
Combat in Forbidden Stars takes place over three executions. At the start of combat, players roll dice for each of their units involved. Then, three times, they select, play, and resolve combat cards from their hands. As the battle unfolds over these three executions, a well-planned onslaught can slowly transform into a gory atrocity, an apparently foolhardy attack can result in an unequivocal and brutal triumph. You’ll need both a powerful army and cunning tactics in order to win.
Wow I can’t wait this game reminds me of the old Warhammer CCG but with miniatures – MBG
About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
