Loot Studios, a 3D model design studio best known for its digital RPG miniatures, is launching ‘Malediction’, its first ever tabletop game. The gameplay promises Warhammer-like miniature battles powered by Magic: the Gathering style card decks, the lore is crafted by bestselling fantasy author Tracy Hickman, and Cartamundi – a key manufacturer for MtG and Pokémon cards – will print the physical starter sets. ‘Ambitious’ might be an understatement.
The game launches with four starter sets, each containing rules cards and cardboard standees for the different units in a single faction, as well as codes to download STL files of their digital miniatures for you to 3D print. It’s a very different onboarding experience to Warhammer 40k‘s mountains of plastic.
Players can start playing straight away using standees, work out which parts of their faction they like the most, and then finally commit to printing (or paying someone with a 3D printer to print) the models when they’re ready. As a website that reviews miniature games – and needs to build a lot of starter sets – Wargamer approves of any wargame you can test before you build it.
The starter sets aren’t cheap per se, costing $69.99 each if you pre-order during the game’s Gamefound campaign – which runs until February 4, and $10 more once they’re on sale generally. Our guide to the best board games has a lot of titles competing with that price point. Good quality cardboard just isn’t cheap (though it is cheaper than buying into a Warhammer 40k faction).
Wargamer hasn’t tested Malediction yet, but a full series of videos is available if you want to learn how to play – you can watch the whole playlist above. It’s a small-scale warband game that takes place on a battlefield roughly thirty inches square. Each warband is led by a Seeker, a powerful fighter who also provides special rules to all your units, who is journeying into the mystical maelstrom known as the Malediction in search of relics.
Your customizable card deck will contain a mixture of units, spells, and items that you will summon during the game. There are some really interesting similarities to Magic: The Gathering here. You’ll spend ‘Echo’, a magical currency, to summon units to the battlefield, equip them with upgrades, and cast spells.
While some spells are channelled through one of your units, ‘swift’ spells can be cast at any time, including in response to your opponent’s actions – just like MTG instants.
Your warband is searching for the ‘husks’ of previous adventurers who died inside the Malediction. Not only are these your objectives for winning the battle, they also contain powerful relics which provide the unit who claims them a powerful upgrade.
That sounds like a bit of a ‘win more’ mechanic that will reward the player who’s in the lead, but as mentioned above we haven’t tested these rules yet. We’re not strictly opposed to a game that comes to a speedy conclusion, providing the ride there is fun.
Each player will also bring a terrain set to the battle – either with a massive 3D printed terrain piece, or with punch out cardboard from the starter set – which has unique rules. We’re absolute suckers for good Warhammer terrain, and Loot Studios’ designs are outstanding.
The terrain shown off so far does things like harming non-flying units, make it cheaper to channel spells, or speed units up – simple to keep track of, but potentially impactful.
Naturally, expansions are promised. Art Director Alvaro Ribeiro gives this press statement: “Our expertise in 3D modeling and STL services will allow us to introduce an entirely new style of tabletop gaming and enable worldbuilding at a pace that’s never been seen before”. Having the author of the DnD Dragonlance setting, Tracy Hickman, on board for world-building certainly lends the dark fantasy setting of Angar some credibility.
Frankly, we’re excited by this. Loot Studios is an excellent miniature designer, Cartamundi is a solid production partner for the physical game, and it seems like the designers have made a game which will genuinely blend miniature wargaming with deck building as more than a gimmick. We’ll let you know what we make of it once we’re actually able to test it.
If you’re interested in more wargames that go beyond Space Marines, we have a guide to the best miniature wargames that’s full of suggestions. And our guide to the best strategy boardgames has plenty of games that pack hours of high stakes gameplay into a single box.
Source: Wargamer
