Warlord: Saga of the Storm – Rules, Strategy & Playing Instructions

Introduction

Warlord: Saga of the Storm is a game I’ve spent countless hours playing and strategizing over. It’s a collectible card game that takes you into a world of fantasy battles where you play as a Warlord with an army of followers. The game was first released in 2001 and has seen various expansions and revisions since then. It’s a mix of strategy, luck, and deck-building skills that makes every game unique and exciting.

The game’s setting is the world of Aternum, where different factions fight for power and glory. Players build decks around their chosen Warlord, each with unique abilities, and recruit various followers to fight by their side. The goal is to defeat your opponent’s Warlord while protecting your own.

Unfortunately, the game isn’t in print anymore, but there’s still a dedicated community that plays it, and you can find cards on the secondary market. The game’s rich history and complex strategy continue to attract new players even today.

Rules for playing Warlord: Saga of the Storm

Understanding the rules is key to enjoying Warlord: Saga of the Storm. The rules are quite extensive, with the latest (4th Edition) available in PDF here. The game is played with a deck of at least 50 cards, including one Warlord card, character cards, action cards, and item cards. Each player starts with a Warlord in play and a hand of cards. The game progresses in turns, with each turn having several phases:

1. Start Phase: Ready all exhausted cards and draw a card.
2. Deployment Phase: Play character cards from your hand to support your Warlord.
3. Command Phase: Issue orders to your characters to attack, use abilities, or play action cards.
4. End Phase: Resolve any end-of-turn effects.

Characters attack by rolling dice, and the result must meet or exceed the target’s armor to succeed. The game continues until one player’s Warlord is defeated.

Card Types for Warlord: Saga of the Storm

In the game Warlord, you’ll come across three primary card types: Characters, items, and actions. These types are marked in white text below the top right of the card art. Let’s delve into each type to understand their specifics. The details on these cards carry important info, and typically, higher numbers indicate better attributes.

I’ll break down the card types in Warlord for you:

Characters:
These guys are your fighters in the battlefield. Your Warlord itself is a character card. Here’s what the different elements on a character card mean:

• Card Name: The name or description of the character.
• Attack (ATK): Shows how good the character is at defeating enemies. Some characters have multiple attack numbers if they get more than one strike in combat.
• Armor Class (AC): Indicates how well the character is protected.
• Level / Class / Alignment: The icon shows the character’s class and level. The color of the icon indicates the character’s alignment (white for good, black for evil).
• Traits: Bold-faced words impact gameplay; other words provide more info about the character. Some traits denote the character’s faction among the seven major sides in the game’s war.
• Game Text: Special abilities and actions the character can perform.
• Story Text: Italics at the bottom offer insights into the ongoing Saga of the Storm.
• Skill: Shows the character’s skill level, aiding in certain actions and dodging attacks.
• Hit Points: Indicates how many wounds it takes to kill the character.
• Border Color: Different factions have distinct borders on their cards.

Items:
These are special or magical equipment for your army. Here’s what to look for:

• Card Name: The item’s name or description.
• Attack and Armor Bonus: Some items affect a character’s ATK and/or AC.
• Requirements: Indicates the class of character allowed to use the item.
• Traits: Bold-faced words impact gameplay; characters can’t equip two items with certain shared traits.
• Game Text: Special abilities of the item.
• Story Text: Offers more info about the item in the game world.

Action Cards:
These cards are tactics for your characters. Here’s the breakdown:

• Card Name: Name of the action card.
• Requirements: Shows the class of character allowed to use the action card.
• Spells: Cleric and wizard action cards (even multi-classed ones) are also known as Spells.
• Game Text: Details the special effects created by the action card. Some have multiple actions to choose from.
• Story Text: Provides game world information.

The Golden Rule: When a card’s text contradicts a game rule, the card’s text takes precedence.

Commanding Your Army: Your army forms a formation consisting of rows of characters called ranks. The front rank is closest to opponents and dubbed the “front rank.” Behind it, ranks are sequentially numbered, with no limit on the number of ranks. When measuring distance between characters, it’s one rank from your front to another player’s front. Front ranks face each other, determining forward and backward. Ranks can’t have more characters than the one in front, except your first rank.

Illegal Ranks: If you end up with a rank having more characters than the one ahead, it’s an Illegal Rank. You must fix this immediately by having characters “fall forward” to correct it. This interrupts normal gameplay and happens before any other action or effect. Falling forward follows specific rules and doesn’t count as a maneuver but does count as moving.

Melee Strikes: When your character performs a melee strike, choose a target within one rank, roll a d20, add the strike’s ATK modifier, and compare the total to the target’s AC to determine a hit.

Ranged Strikes: Similar to melee strikes but shooting over one rank. Choose a target two ranks away, roll a d20, add the ranged strike’s bonus, compare to the target’s AC for a hit. The character’s ATK bonuses and strikes don’t affect ranged strikes.

Wounds, Hit Points & Dying: If wounds equal or exceed a character’s hit points or if a character’s level drops to 0, it dies. Place the character, equipped items, and attached actions in the discard pile.

Die Rolls: Rolling a 20 is a Critical Success, automatically succeeding regardless of modifiers. Rolling a 1 is a Critical Failure, automatically failing. If two characters both critically succeed/fail or have identical results, modifiers apply as normal. Otherwise, the character with the critical result wins/loses the roll.

Ready, Spending & Stunning: Cards’ orientations—ready, spent, stunned—indicate their state. Spending a card rotates it 90 degrees, and stunning turns it upside down. Stunned characters can’t perform actions but can be affected by others’ actions. Stunned item actions can’t be performed, but stat modifiers and effects still apply.

How to Play Warlord: Saga of the Storm and Game Mechanics

Playing Warlord: Saga of the Storm involves several key mechanics:

• Deck Building: Before playing, you’ll need to build a deck around a Warlord card.
• Resource Management: You have a limited number of actions each turn, so use them wisely.
• Combat: Characters engage in battles using dice rolls to determine success.

At the start of each game, players simultaneously reveal their starting armies from their decks. Here’s how it works:

• Your starting army includes:
  • One character with the Warlord trait.
  • Three 1st-level characters.
  • Two 2nd-level characters.
• Among the five non-Warlord characters:
  • They must belong to the same faction as the Warlord.
  • You can’t include more than one copy of a particular Unique character.
• Deployment in ranks:
  • The three 1st-level characters are in the 1st rank.
  • Both 2nd-level characters are in the 2nd rank.
  • Your Warlord occupies the 3rd rank.

This setup occurs before the game’s first turn. During this setup phase, no actions can be performed, but any static text on the cards still takes effect.

Phases of Play

In a turn of the game, there are five distinct phases that players move through in a specific sequence:

1. Ready Phase: All players simultaneously rotate their cards 90 degrees towards the upright position. Spent cards become ready, and stunned cards become spent.
2. Draw Phase: Players have the option to discard any cards from their hands. Then, they draw cards one by one until they reach their hand size limit, usually 5 cards. If a player already has a full hand, they don’t draw additional cards.
3. Initiative Phase: Each player’s Warlord rolls for Initiative. The highest roll takes the lead in the Decree Phase. In case of a tie, tied Warlords reroll. Critical Success always wins here.
4. Decree Phase: This phase drives the gameplay. Players take turns giving Decrees in a clockwise order, starting from the player with the highest Initiative roll. Each player presents one Decree until all players consecutively pass their turns.

During your Decree, you can choose to:

• Bring a character into play from your hand.
• Direct one of your characters to perform an Order.
• Pass your turn.

This cycle continues until all players consecutively pass their Decree, signaling the end of the Decree Phase.

Here’s a detailed breakdown of the various actions and phases in Warlord:

Putting a Character into Play:

• Players can take a character from their hand and add it to their army. The character must be placed in a rank matching its level. Characters can be positioned on the far left, far right, or between two other characters in that rank.
• However, a character cannot be added if it results in an illegal rank.

Loyalty Penalty:

• Characters from a different faction than the Warlord enter play stunned. Mercenary trait characters are exempt from this penalty.

Performing an Order:

• Characters can perform one of three Standard Orders:
• Perform an Attack.
• Equip an item from the hand.
• Maneuver within the formation.
• Additionally, characters can perform Orders from action cards in hand or Orders that are already in play.

Standard Orders:

• Perform an Attack:
• Spend the character to perform consecutive melee strikes based on the character’s ATK. Strikes must target opposing characters, not those under your control. Additional strikes can be added or stopped during the action.
• Equip an Item from Your Hand:
• Reveal an item card from the hand and equip it to the character. There are restrictions based on the item’s class, trait, and level.
• Maneuver:
• Spend the character to move forward/backward one rank or to change position within the current rank.

Performing an Order from Your Hand:

• Characters can perform action cards from their hand, adding effects. These actions follow restrictions based on class, trait, and level. After the action’s effect, the card goes to the discard pile.

Performing an Order Already in Play:

• Characters can perform an Order that’s already in play, utilizing abilities from their game text, attached action or item, trait, or other card effects.

Passing:

• If a player cannot or chooses not to give any more Decrees, they pass. If all players consecutively pass, the Decree phase ends immediately. Passing doesn’t forfeit future actions but might lead to the phase ending before they act.

5. End of Turn Phase:

• In Initiative order, players remove ongoing card effects that last “until end of turn” and then perform effects that occur “at end of turn.” Once all these effects have been handled, the turn ends, and a new one begins.

These actions and phases dictate the flow and tactical decisions within each turn of the game.

How to Win at Warlord: Saga of the Storm

Winning at Warlord: Saga of the Storm requires a mix of strategy and adaptability. Beginners should focus on learning the different card types and how they interact. Intermediate players can start to recognize patterns and anticipate their opponent’s moves. Advanced players will have a deep understanding of the meta-game and can build decks to counter popular strategies.

Best Strategies for playing Warlord: Saga of the Storm

Warlord: Saga of the Storm, formerly known as Warlord: Saga of the Storm, is a collectible card game that involves strategy, deck building, and tactical combat. To excel in this game, players must adopt several key strategies. A foundational strategy is to meticulously build a well-balanced deck that aligns with your Warlord’s strengths and your overall game plan. This means including a mix of action cards, items, and characters that complement each other and can handle various threats. It’s essential to have a good ratio of low to high-cost cards to ensure a smooth resource curve, allowing you to play effectively throughout the game. Another critical strategy is to know your opponent’s deck and anticipate their moves, which requires understanding the meta and common deck archetypes. Board control is crucial; positioning your characters wisely and choosing when to attack or defend can turn the tide of battle. Adaptive play is also important, as being able to adjust your tactics based on the current game state can lead to victory. Lastly, practice makes perfect. The more you play, the better you’ll understand the intricacies of the game, from card synergies to timing your plays for maximum impact.

The best strategies involve knowing your deck inside and out, understanding your opponent’s likely strategies, and adapting to the flow of the game. Look for synergies between cards and always be prepared to change your tactics based on the state of the battlefield.

Deck Building and Best Cards

When it comes to playing with your decks in Warlord, you’ve got some options:

1. Ready-Made Decks: You can play with the decks as you bought them.
2. Custom Decks: Alternatively, you can create your own deck using cards from your collection. Some rules apply:
   • Your deck must have a minimum of 50 cards.
   • No more than three copies of any single card are allowed.
   • No single card type (character, action, or item) can make up more than half of your deck. For instance, in a 50-card deck, you can’t exceed 25 cards of one type.
   • Count all cards in your deck, including your starting characters.

Additionally, there are specific limitations:

• Epic Trait: If a card has the Epic trait, you’re limited to one copy of that card in your deck.
• Unique Character Traits: Certain character traits like Warlord, Overlord, Daemonlord, or Dragon Lord have restrictions. You can only include one character with each of these traits.
• Starting Army: Ensure your deck has enough characters to form a legal starting army.

Best Cards in Warlord: Saga of the Storm

Some of the best cards include powerful characters that can turn the tide of battle, versatile action cards that can be used in multiple situations, and items that provide significant bonuses to your characters.

Scenarios

Common scenarios include being outnumbered, facing a Warlord with strong defenses, or running low on resources. In these situations, it’s important to stay calm and look for opportunities to outmaneuver your opponent.

Frequently Asked Questions about playing Warlord: Saga of the Storm game

Here are some common questions and answers:

1. Q: How many cards can I have in my hand? A: There’s no limit to the number of cards you can hold.
2. Q: Can I attack my opponent’s Warlord directly? A: Yes, if there are no characters in the way.
3. Q: What happens if I run out of cards in my deck? A: You continue playing, but you can’t draw more cards.

Additional Subtopics

Other relevant topics include tournament play, drafting strategies, and the importance of card synergy. Each of these areas can deepen your understanding and enjoyment of the game.

External Links

Warlord CCG Official Homepage

4th Edition Rulebook