New Faction on the Battleground

Third Faction

If you know yourself and your enemy, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. Whether you plan to lead an Evil Horde or fight against it, you must learn their tactics and strategies, otherwise you won't stand a chance!

Minions of the Horde!

Let’s begin with the most important thing first – The Evil Horde won’t start with just five models like other factions, they’ll have eight: four unique characters, two copies of Horde Troopers and two copies of Horde Wraiths. Why two copies? Because that's how many you can add to your force! Troopers and wraiths are cheaper than standard characters (costing 7 and 9 points respectively), and even if they do not pose a significant threat by themselves, they are never alone. The Evil Horde's armies will be more numerous than any other faction. They are a horde, after all.

There is Strength in Numbers

Having additional bodies on the battleground brings many advantages. During deployment, you can place lower-value troops first and delay the placement of more essential characters until you know where your opponent puts their key heroes. In battle, additional characters allow you to perform an activation after all enemies have finished theirs. And who knows? With some luck, maybe your cheap minions deal a point of damage or two, and bring down a more expensive character?

Hordak, the Ruthless Leader

The Horde won’t lead itself. A cunning and powerful commander must turn this mob into a real army. Luckily, Hordak is here to lead the charge. This ancient villain is one of the most powerful beings in the universe, and the game mechanics reflect that. Despite this, there’s a catch. The Horde leader won’t start with his full potential unleashed. During the first rounds, he is no match for He-Man or Skeletor, but the more members of the Evil Horde fall in battle, the more powerful their leader becomes. In the beginning, Hordak tends to stay behind and give orders, but seeing the incompetence of his minions ruining everything makes his anger grow. Eventually, the horde leader will take matters into his own hands.

Useful Cards:

Hordak in Action

Hordak is standing in a safe spot surrounded by his loyal minions. There is no reason to fight personally. Not yet, at least. The leader of the Evil Horde uses his “I Command You!” skill and orders a Wraith to attack a He-Man. After that, he enters overwatch.

He-Man can’t waste any time! He must deal with a Hordak before he becomes too powerful. He-Man approaches Hordak, but by doing so, he walks right into a trap! Hordak activates his overwatch, gives another command, and one of the Horde Troopers engages He-Man. The heroic warrior has no choice but to defend himself, and as a result, he deals two wounds to the trooper!

Another Horde trooper activates and also engages He-Man. The snare has him caught. Even if He-Man manages to overpower these enemies, doing so only makes Hordak stronger! It doesn't look good for our heroes.

Catra, Beautiful and Selfish

Catra is better than everyone and deserves special treatment. At least in her own opinion and her opinion is the only one that matters! Catra's gameplay differs from what you’ve come to expect from other characters. Her abilities allow you to discard cards from your hand in exchange for powerful effects. Reduce the number of received wounds, perform a free 2-hex movement or gather additional action points. Everything is on the table! Are you worried you may use too many cards too quickly? Well, you should. Fortunately, in wave 4, we introduce quite a few methods of drawing extra cards, so with careful hand management, you should be able to keep up the momentum. If you do, you will be surprised how much good (or evil) Catra can do when she receives a few cards.

Useful Cards:

Catra in Action

He-Man and Catra are standing next to the objective. It looks like no one is willing to give it up. He-Man activates first and attacks Catra in melee. She is supposed to receive two wounds, but instead, she discards a card and reduces that number down to one. Now, it's the Evil Horde's turn. Catra has a Horde Crossbow, but is there any way of using it without risking He-Man’s retaliation? Yes, there is.

Catra attacks He-Man with her whip, deals one wound and draws an additional card. She doesn't hesitate and discards it to make a free 2-hex movement. This movement cannot be interrupted, so she moves out of He-Man’s reach without a problem.

Catra can use Horde Crossbow and push He-Man away from the objective and gather some victory points for her side.

A Horde trooper is helping!

Catra definitely uses a lot of cards, which is why the player controlling her must be careful not to run out of them before the game ends! Horde Troopers can prevent that from happening. Whenever a Horde Trooper is knocked out, the controlling player draws two random cards from their discard pile and shuffles them back into their deck. Do it twice, and you should have enough cards for the entire match. But be careful! The opponent is fully aware of that and will try to take care of Horde Troopers before there are any cards in your discard pile.

Grizzlor is leading the Charge!

Grizzlor is a strong and sturdy warrior who fights in the front line and always tries to be at the center of the action. His skills make this much easier. Whenever an enemy knocks out one of his allies, he gains a free interruption against that enemy. This little trick allows him to move quickly over the battlefield and strike where he is needed. Grizzlor’s second ability gives him extra mana whenever the controlling player discards a card. He will need that ability because his iconic Axe allows him to spend his mana in exchange for extra dice or a free focus! All this makes Grizzlor a severe threat, and even He-Man should think twice before engaging him.

Useful Cards:

Grizzlor in action

He-Man knocks out a Horde Wraith. However, he hasn’t realised that the Wraith had 2 mana points. Before the Wraith leaves the Battleground, it uses their “For the Evil Horde” skill to switch positions with an ally.

Grizzlor takes the position of knocked-out Horde Wraith. He-Man now has a much stronger opponent, but this isn’t the last of the surprises in store for him.

Grizzlor’s skill: “The Ferocious Warrior” allows him to interrupt enemies that knockout his allies. It’s revenge time! Grizzlors attacks He-Man with his iconic axe inflicting two wounds! However, it's not over yet. Soon the most vicious warrior of Hordak’s horde will start his activation and attack again. Victory will belong to the Evil Horde!

Can you trust Shadow Weaver?

Shadow Weaver is the primary magic user of the Evil Horde, but this enigmatic woman can do much more than just throw fireballs at opponents. For example, she can take control of an enemy character and force them to leave a secure position or a held objective. I don’t need to explain how useful this is. Moreover, whenever Shadow Weaver’s ally is knocked-out, she receives all their unspent mana. But what if those allies won’t cooperate and refuse to fall? Well, the evil sorceress will help them. Her iconic spell – “Overwhelming Power”, can target enemies and allies. Characters affected by this spell will receive wounds and mana, so depending on the situation, it could have many different applications.

Useful Cards:

Shadow Weaver in Action

The situation looks dire. Enemies are getting closer, and the Horde Troopers won’t be able to hold the line for much longer. Difficult times require difficult decisions.

Shadow Weaver uses her “Overwhelming Power” spell to target a wounded Horde Trooper. As a result, the Trooper takes one extra wound and two mana. This causes the Trooper to be knocked out.
Thanks to the “Shadow Magic” skill, Shadow Weaver gains all his mana, and all allies of the knocked-out trooper gain two extra mana as well (courtesy of “Overwhelming Power”). The Horde is ready to fight! But Shadow Weaver isn't done with her magical manipulation just yet.

Shadow Weaver has the “Eldritch Book of Spells”, which allows her to perform a free attack whenever she knocks out any other character (including allies). She uses that free action to attack Man-At-Arms and deals two wounds to him. Now odds are in the favour of the Horde. In memory of the horde trooper, who made this possible, may he live forever.

Wraith Sacrifice

Suppose Shadow Weaver targeted the Horde Wraith instead of the Horde Trooper. The Horde Wraith can use received mana to use their skill and switch positions with any ally. That on-demand teleportation would surprise even the most prepared opponent.

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