Community Opinions / Reviews on Shadespire

[Space Truckin]

Curious to what people here think about Shadespire. The reviews I've on read on BBG state the game is pretty amazing and extremely well balanced.
Does it play like a skirmish miniatures game or more like a card game?
I'm wondering if this would appeal to non-wargamers.
Haven't been following the releases for this but how fast are they releasing factions?
No Dwarfs or Elves yet. Or Aaeelves or Duwarves for that matter however they want to spell it.

 

[Thorgor]

I've only played a few 1v1 games so far with the content of the base box (Sigmarines vs. Khornates)

First off, don't expect it to play like a skirmish game. The only thing it has in common with Mordheim is the setting (ruined/cursed city full of treasures). It's a competitive board game/card game hybrid. There is no narrative element to speak of (your guys are pre-made characters you will use like pawns during the game, don't expect to grow attached to them.)
It can definitely appeal to non wargamers, as it is closer to games like Arena: For the Gods! than to your typical GW game.

This being said, I like the game a lot. Apart from the horrible roll-off rules (a bit less horrible thanks to a patch, but still), the rules are streamlined and well written (we only stumbled upon 1 unclear situation, and it has been clarified in a FAQ since then). It looks like an easy to learn/hard to master game.
One thing though: the content of the base box doesn't offer much in term of deck building depth. You pretty much need to buy extra warbands (for the generic cards that come with them) to build a competitive/non-boring deck for your Sigmarines or Khornates.

They have released 2 extra factions so far (orks and skellies) a few weeks after the base game.
Dwarves (Fyreslayers) are coming soon (they go on pre-order this week, alongside skavens), but no word on Elves yet (the next two warbands will be a second serving of Sigmarines and Khornates) I expect further warbands to also be released in pair (2 per quarter)

 

[Space Truckin]

Thanks for the info! I'll also check out Arena for the Gods. Not a big fan of the 2 starting factions - just don't think Space Marines vs Khorne as a broad appeal and lack of progression really might not be what I'm looking for.

 

[Thorgor]

Just to be clear, Arena and Shadespire are still quite different (among other things, there is no deck-building element in Arena, you only control 1 guy, and the only objective is to kill the others and survive). What they do share is a similar "dudes on an hexagonal board try to kill each others" core gameplay.

 

[Space Truckin]

Ok. I'm looking to stock pile a small amount of gateway board games with the intention of starting a gaming group here sometime this summer. Starting with things like Zombiecide etc. After going through the latest Orlocks thread, N17 will probably not be that entry game to GW and the 40k universe I was hoping for. Unless - I have everything house ruled / Arbitrated before hand. May look into Silver Tower or just buy another copy of my beloved Space Hulk for those beer, pretzels and pizza nights.

 

[Thorgor]

As far as gateway games go, I agree that Zombicide makes a good starting point. Then maybe something like Star Wars: Imperial Assault before you tackle Necromunda. Or maybe Blood Bowl?
I've no first-hand experience with Silver Tower and Space Hulk, but from what I've heard, you can never go wrong with Space Hulk ^^

 

[Space Truckin]

Space Hulk is awesome. Games aren't balanced but seem to balance out over a few scenarios. Lots of nostalgia there too.
Thought about Imperial Assault as well. I think they just released some major expansion as well. Co-op seems to go down well with non-wargamers as it's not my guys kill your guys games.
Thanks for the advice!

 

[Howks]

i was sceptical when it was released and I have tried AoS but couldnt take to it (i'm more of a sci fi fan). with that being said - I love Shadespire.

For a new player it seems a little complex at first - what with the cards and the timings of when you can play some of them - but after 2 games I was hooked. It's quick to pick up out of the box and get going (provided you have your custom deck pre built or stick with the core starter) and we can get through 3 games of it in the space of one ordinary board game.

the cards can be a little off putting and the fact that in order to expand your core set of cards to pick from you will need to buy the other warband factions available (or print your own) but I have seen a wide range of variety in a single faction going up against different foes - it keeps the game interesting depending on if you want to try achieve objective wins, take out wins or a mix of the two - e.g. I played 3 games with my skellie guard vs dwarves the other day - it took the first two losses to figure what I had been doing wrong and i won the 3rd. we didnt change the cards we were playing with but even things like the board layout can have a huge impact on a warbands effectiveness.

If you have a friend who owns the game - get them to teach you or if you are in a position to be able to buy the core game for you and friend/family member to use then you wont be disappointed. however, after tryin the game - if you hate it - you will still be able to make some money back selling 2nd hand due to its popularity

the game doesnt go beyond 3 rounds, it is an alternate activation game, the models are push fit and coloured plastic so you dont need to paint them asap unless you want to. I would suggest getting a second set of dice though after purchase for your 2nd player if they dont have their own

 

[Callidusx3]

To revive a dormant thread, I highly recommend Shadespire. It is a tight, balanced game with surprising strategic depth. And now, with the imminent release of Season 2: Nightvault, it might be a good time for you to try (perhaps the starting war bands are more to your liking?).

 

[Vandal]

I second the above post - it’s a truely excellent game - even if you only ever play with one other person. The mini tires are great for collectors as the cost is very reasonable to get very high quality minis that give an excuse to paint somthing different. I have all the season bits and can’t wait to get season 2. I’d recommend checking out the info dump so far on the community site for season 2 and the main Shadespire site if you want more info on season 1 (like the great and very unGW service of showing the full list(100’s) of cards in the game off - which you can dote over or even print off)

 

[Space Truckin]

So the new version of this game uses templates... hmmm.
I was thinking of looking for season on the cheap since a new copy is due out. Seems to not be the case.

 

[Vandal]

Should be able to pick up either edition for £30 - it’s offers good value imo at the rrp of £40 but ymmv. Anyway if you do jump in I hope you enjoy it as much as me and the misses has.

 

[Vandal]

Well I’ve played the new set and it’s pretty darn good - 2 new teams are really interesting to play was expecting the storm cast side to me very similar to play to steal hearts champs but they suit a more all out offensive strategy imo. That definitely what’s needed vs the briar queens side as they are very powerful nigh unstoppable if left to get set up, but as they are soft you can cut them down easy so you need to get on with that on your own terms before the queen minions can strangle you.

 

[Sethmerlin666]

Having got a few games in now, can thoroughly recommend. Very cool albeit very different system to anything they've done before. Great balance, really characterful and different strategies between the rival warbands.... I'm in hook line and sinker.

 

[funkaoshi]

I enjoy this game a lot as well. It's an easy game to get non-wargammers to play as well. I usually play with my cousin who is more into boardgames. The miniatures they've been making for the warbands are really great. (Also, this game doesn't use templates. It's very much a boardgame.)

 

[Space Truckin]

Few questions as I'm kinda fascinated in this and have never read a bad review

Whats the Difference between shadespire and nightvault? Is it mainly spells? Do you need a spell deck? Sorry dont know the terminology.

Are war bands forward compatible? And if so would I need another deck or something to upgrade them.

Multiplayer games? Will 3 or 4 player games be out of whack?

Warbands... both starter sets are a bit on the meh side for me.

Probably my biggest obstacle to buying this. Would like to keep it light hearted and fun. Not so much Khorne Chaos something more akin to old fantasy.
So am looking at night goblins, orks / orruks, or maybe the mushroom looking dudes that were previewed a while back. Any good website to see what's available?

Cant even find those mushroom people on the gw site.

Thanks in Advance

 

[Sethmerlin666]

Few questions as I'm kinda fascinated in this and have never read a bad review

Whats the Difference between shadespire and nightvault? Is it mainly spells? Do you need a spell deck? Sorry dont know the terminology.

Are war bands forward compatible? And if so would I need another deck or something to upgrade them.

Multiplayer games? Will 3 or 4 player games be out of whack?

Warbands... both starter sets are a bit on the meh side. Probably my biggest obstacle to buying this. Would like to keep it light hearted and fun. Not so much Khorne Chaos.
So am looking at night goblins, orks / orruks, or maybe the mushroom looking dudes that were previewed a while back. Any good website to see what's available?

Cant even find those mushroom people on the gw site.

Thanks in Advance

Hey,
I jumped in on Nightvault, from what I can gather everything is forward compatible, it's just the older warbands lack magic. But that's not really an issue, as they are still balanced based on the skills they have. Magic is just something you do instead of another action, so it's not really a big deal if you have it or not.
The other difference is introduction of lethal hexes, which just adds a layer of strategy. Nightvault is the better start point because the boards etc already include these details.
you can then buy the original boards as a separate deal, which they've added these details too. You can also get cards from the previous edition as a separate buy.
3 and 4 player is fully inbuilt, but does require extra boards, so you'll need to grab the extra board set as described above. It's basically 1 board per starting player.
Mushroom dudes aren't released yet. night goblins are rad....
From the nightvault starting set the ghosties are pretty fun to play, can recommend. The stormcast as boring as hell, but not bad for a first time player as less things to think about.

Hope that helps!

 

[Space Truckin]

That's perfect thank you! Exactly what I wanted to know.

Yeah thought these guys were released already.

 

[Sethmerlin666]

That's perfect thank you! Exactly what I wanted to know.

Yeah thought these guys were released already.
View attachment 72164

Yeh they're the next warbands along with the wildmen type thing I think. They previewed them quite early, mighta been a PAX preview or something.

 

[DArquebus]

You can check all the currently released warbands on this site:

https://warhammerunderworlds.com/deck-builder/

The actual link is to their Deck Builder. Which has all the currently released cards in the game from Shadespire (1st season) and Nightvault (2nd Season).

It's kinda a buy every warband to get all the cards if you wanna be a world beater type game. But you can also get by (so I am lead to believe) just buying the ones you like. The Deck Builder does let you look through every single card and possibly buy singles from people if there was one you really liked the look of for a fun deck to play.