Elder Scrolls:Call to Arms Development Blog #1: The Armies Assemble

Modiphius sent out the following

 

In this development blog I’m going to look at the products that we’ll be providing for the Launch of Elder Scrolls A Call to Arms and the core faction sets for our first chapter, Civil War due out late March 2020. We wanted to ensure that the starting line-up had all the rules, tokens, cards and dice in one place to get you started with the game. We also wanted to include a good selection of scenarios and some simple campaign rules. The Elder Scrolls Rules box provides all of this, with a 104 page rulebook, 44 page Quests book (with 12 missions) and a 16-page introduction that places you in the opening scenes of Skyrim – Escape from Helgen. The boxed set also includes more than 220 cards, two sheets of die cut tokens and a full set of 13 dice. The Core Rules Box will retail for £35.00, $45.00 and €40.00

Now that we have the rules covered, we looked at the iconic characters that would allow you to enjoy all modes of play. Originally, we were looking at a larger box with PVC miniatures, like the Fallout starter set. But, feedback from the Fallout indicated that there was a strong faction loyalty and a desire to collect and play individual factions from the start, rather than having a varied selection of figures. Many people had asked for a faction starter set and rules bundle. Couple this with some exciting developments in High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS) and we started to see that we could make faction-specific starter sets and a separate rule box a reality. But, what to put in our faction boxes?

BLEAK FALLS BARROW DELVE SET For solo and co-op delves the Dragonborn is obviously a no-brainer. What would Skyrim be without the Dhovakin? We also need some opponents for the hero of Skyrim, so we’ve included three Skeleton Archers, three Draugr Warriors and a fearsome Draugr Overlord to lead them into battle. These form our Minions, Elite and Master adversaries which are also used in player vs player games. This set of 8 figures comprise our Bleak Fall Barrow Delve set. The Plastic Delve box will be £27.00 / $36.00 / €32.00.

IMPERIAL LEGION FACTION STARTER SET For the Imperial forces we have a five-figure faction core set. Hadvar, Hero of Helgen, leads the set. He’s an incredibly tough opponent and has a special ability that bolsters the defensive abilities of any Imperials nearby. Accompanying Hadvar is the Imperial Spellsword. She has destruction magic mastery, which means she’s more accurate with her destruction spells, and we’ve had enormous fun flinging Fireballs and Flames around the battlefield. As a Legion soldier, she’s also proficient with one handed weapons, so she lives up to her Spellsword name. The Imperials are then rounded out by three Imperial Legionnaires. These are good, solid, multipurpose troops with decent damage and protection. They work best when they act as a unit and stay close to Hadvar to benefit from his abilities. You can also use them as AI adversaries! The Imperial Faction Core will be £25.00, $33.00 and €30.00 in plastic

STORMCLOAK FACTION STARTER SET To oppose the Imperials, the Stormcloaks have five true sons and daughters of Skyrim. Yrsarald Thrice Pierced leads the Stormcloak forces. He is a true combat monster and has abilities that can make him terrifying in combat, preventing enemies from engaging him and allowing him to pick apart enemy formations piecemeal. He also has the Wind Walker ability, allowing him to regenerate his Stamina faster than other models, meaning he can use the game-changing Boost actions more often. Supporting Yrsarald is another veteran of the dragon attack at Helgen, Ralof, Warrior of the Resistance. Ralof is a handy, multirole character effective with both ranged and melee weapons who is also able to sneak and pick locks. Ralof can swap between an equipped bow or a single-handed weapon at will and benefits from his Fighting Stance which grants extra accuracy with melee weapons when attacking from a Ready Action. Three Warriors with Greatswords complete the Stormcloak forces. Stormcloak Warriors are hard hitting troops but are not as resilient as their Imperial counterparts. They are best use aggressively with Yrsarald to strike hard, whilst Ralof skirts the battlefield securing objectives or takes advantage of cover and concealment to pick off enemies through stealth attacks. Alternatively use them as your AI adversaries! The Stormcloak Faction Core will be £25.00, $33.00 and €30.00 in plastic.

These multi-part hard plastic sets will all be available in your friendly local gaming store from late March, as well as the Modiphius website. We’ll also be offering resin collectors sets in limited quantities for each release. Watch out for news of further releases and scenics. In the next post we will look at what you can expect to see in the coming months for the rest of the Civil War chapter releases.

 

Will you be getting this?