A little behind the curve but here is the start of our Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire review. Alchemists Workshops were kind enough to send a copy over to Ireland for this review, do pay them a visit. Now to have a look at Games Workshops latest board game offering.
Image from Alchemists Workshops
Before we get into any game play we are going to have to dig into the contents. I am delighted to report they have not skimped on the contents at all. Everything seems to be of a high quality, from the two sprues of miniatures to the nice thick and slick cards. The contents of the box are:
- 3 Stormcast miniatures
- 5 Bloodreaver miniatures
- 8 double-sided character cards
- 2 double-sided game boards
- 96 upgrade and objective cards
- 126 tokens
- 8 Shadespire only dice
- 32-page rulebook
- Quick-start basic rules
It is no surprise that this box contains some models, this is GW after all. What did surprise me is they needed clipping out and a certain amount of sprue shaving. For a game aimed at competitive play, as this seems to be, you would imagine they would have gone simpler.
This many tokens reminds me of Fantasy Flight Games level of bits, plus they included some baggies to sort things into. That last detail shows they have started to do some research into the field they are so desperately trying to break into.
The game boards are a nice thick card and double sided, filled with little details to pour over. Everything from the cards to the rulebook all speaks of a common art direction. This is no surprise as the bigger projects Games Workshop does would involve a much bigger team. Here things are tight and focussed.
We can only hope the rules play out the same way.
My own WiP of the lovely miniatures.
Expansions
There are a two separate warbands available and two more coming. The undead Deathrattle and Orruks are currently kicking around the Shadespire. Soon to be joining them are Skaven and Dwarven Fireslayers. Each warband comes with its own custom minis and cards but sadly not with a game board. Meaning for more than two players you will need another core set.
Image from Alchemists Workshops
Well that is all on the unboxing, next time I will show off some paint on the miniatures and after that a game or two.
Good review.
Eventually they’ll likely release the starter warbands on their own, like they did with Blood Bowl, but it will probably be a while.
Unrelated, noticed a few typos.
First paragraph, first sentence below the box contents “It is no surprise that this bix contains some models”. Box, not bix.
Then second paragraph below that “Everything from thr cards to the rulebook all speaks of a common art direction.”. The, not thr.
Cheers chief.
I think the starter warbands will end up separate for sure, but more of the game boards would be great.
The bases on the Stormcast are amazing, I am trying to find suitable ones to replicate them elsewhere.
Very nice. Gonna look at ordering me a copy next month methinks along with the undead warband.
Good call. I think I might need one of each warband to paint up. Loving the poses on them all.
The Undead one is the only one that grabs me so far. The Khorne ones ntb. The other 2 just seem really boring to me.
Looking forward to seeing the fyre slayers though. Hoping for some awesome distinct poses there.
Also mostly naked dwarfs. I would prefer the sky dwarves to be honest.
Looks like another addiction for me to dive into. Thanks for the great review! The skeletons are calling!
It is a worthy addiction to be sure. The Deathrattle do seem to be quite popular .