Eclipse Editorial’s latest creation, “Drums of War,” is now on Kickstarter and has reached its €4,500 goal in just two hours and has now more than doubled the initial goal. This epic fantasy battle game lets players choose their greatest leader and command their bravest troops to march and crush their enemies.
The game’s premise centers around two completely different armies with distinct game strategies and several heroes for each side. The humans, created as a weapon to confront the enemies of the gods, wage war against the orcs in their struggle for their territory. The orcs, once deprived of their freedom, will never be subjugated by anyone ever again. Players must choose a side and lead their army to victory in dynamic and tactical games, pitting asymmetric armies whose units are represented by cards on the battlefield.
In “Drums of War,” units, equipment, and tactics are represented by cards that players must play from their hand, gradually depleting their deck. Players must pay the cost of deploying their units with cards from their hand, and their deck is their resource. All cards have unique abilities on the battlefield, which, when used properly, will give players the advantage they need to defeat the enemy army.
The game is designed for two-player or solo games, in 30-minute skirmishes or in campaign mode, and can be enjoyed by ages 10 and up. The game’s unit cards are divided into infantry, cavalry, monsters, and war machines, each with their own unique icon, range, and special ability that is activated when a series of conditions are met on the battlefield. Equipment and tactics cards have backpack and flag icons, respectively, and are played on unit cards to equip them with weapons and shields that enhance their combat capabilities or reveal powerful tactics that change the rules of the game to players’ benefit.
Players also choose a hero card at the beginning of the game to represent them on the battlefield and lead their army. There are three hero levels to choose from at the start of the game: Gold, Silver, and Bronze, each with a special ability and a cost. This cost forces players to remove cards from the deck before the start of the battle, at random or of their choice, depending on the hero.
The game round is divided into three phases: Deployment, Combat, and Replenishment. In the deployment phase, players take turns deploying unit cards, equipment or tactics cards, or passing. In the combat phase, battles take place simultaneously, and each player selects the enemy targets to combat and resolves the fight on the battlefield. In the replenishment phase, each player replenishes their hand with cards from their own deck until they have five cards again.
“Drums of War” includes a rulebook to play in solo mode, where an army will be controlled by an artificial intelligence that will make decisions according to a small flowchart and an order of priority. Several extra game modes are also included, such as the skirmish game mode, duel mode, and campaign mode, where three battles are played consecutively with the same army, each with a different hero. Defeating a higher-level hero in this game mode awards additional points, and the winner will be the player who has the highest score after the three battles.
The clock is ticking, and the troops are waiting for players to lead them to victory. With “Drums of War,” players can immerse themselves in an epic fantasy battle and enjoy a dynamic and tactical game that challenges them to use their resources strategically. The game can be played for free on the board game platform Tabletopia, and rulebooks are available for download.
Source: Tabletop Gaming News
