High Command: Faith & Fortune has made its debut at Gen Con, and many High Command players have access to the Retribution of Scyrah, Convergence of Cyriss, Highborn Covenant, and Four Star Syndicate as new playable High Command factions. I am very excited about the addition of these new factions to the game and for the new play styles and card abilities they bring to the table. I genuinely believe that Faith & Fortune is the most entertaining High Command core set to date, and I’d strongly encourage you to check it out whether or not you’ve played High Command in the past.

You can find a brief introduction to each of the new factions in No Quarter #55, but that’s just the beginning. Today, I’d like to highlight one additional card from each of the four new factions.

The Soulless Expendables from the Retribution of Scyrah are likely to give any High Command player pause. Never before have we had a card with a purchase cost of 1 CMD with even close to the Soulless Expendables card’s stats. Its Power and Health are fully quadruple that of the last card released with a 1 CMD purchase cost. But this power comes at a price. This card cannot contribute resources to purchase additional cards, and it goes straight to the occupying forces pile after it’s used. Will its nominal cost and burst of power fuel your plans, or will you count instead on slower but more reliable weapons?

The Modulator from the Convergence of Cyriss is a card with more conventional strengths. It has an extremely low rush margin, it’s worth 2 WAR when discarded for resources, and it’s worth a victory point. These are elements veterans look for in a card that’s guaranteed to be a sound investment from the early turns of the game straight through to the endgame. The Modulator’s Plasma Nimbus ability, however, is what really sets it apart. It’s fairly common to send a lone, sturdy card into the fray to hold a location even if you are not able to capture it. Plasma Nimbus single-handedly thwarts that tactic and can force an opponent to make difficult sacrifices.

The Precursor Knights are the Highborn Covenant card of the day, and they’re another great example of a Faith & Fortune card that will keep an opponent on his toes. With some Precursor protection at a location, a warcaster or warlock card is no longer a guaranteed trump card that will obliterate a location’s defenders. It provides yet another way for the forces of the Llaelese Resistance to harry their attackers with control effects while they build up enough power to take locations of their own.

The Trollkin Sellswords card is another Four Star Syndicate card that uses the gambling mechanic introduced in No Quarter #55. Both of the previously revealed cards keyed off of resources, however, while the Trollkin Sellswords are looking for warrior cards. This introduces potential conflict in trying to craft the perfect Four Star Syndicate army deck. Should you maximize resources to keep Nomads in the fight or maximize warriors to make your Trollkin unstoppable?

I know that plenty of you did not have a chance to attend Gen Con to pick up High Command: Faith & Fortune, but the wait won’t be long. This newest core set will release everywhere next month and, just as important, the first Faith & Fortune expansion will launch next month as well. We wanted to minimize the wait between the core set and the first opportunity to customize your new factions’ decks, and the Escalating Conflict expansion promises lots of interesting new options for all four factions.

Wishing you good faith and fortune,
-DC