War of Supremacy: Review

War of Supremacy: Review

Information:

Mechanics: Hand Management, Area Control, Set Collection, Head to Head

Player Age: 13+ 

Player Count: 2 - 5 Players

Time to Play: 30 - 60 Minutes 
Game Designer: Nathan Everett

Publisher: Lost Treasure Games

BGG Weight: 2.00

Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the publisher.

Objective:

In 'War of Supremacy' you will be using the mighty creatures and fearsome spells of each faction to take over and protect the territories until you successfully take control of two or three territories (dependant on player count).

Card Anatomy:

Territory Cards:

These are the locations that the players will be fighting over. Each territory has a faction associated with it and a unique ability that will affect gameplay until the territory is claimed.

Spell Cards:

Each spell card has a faction they are associated with (mainly necessary for setup) and states when it is allowed to be played such as during any turn, on your turn, on a creature, when a condition has been met. Lastly, each spell has an ability like giving creatures more attack, messing with an opponents hand, or benefiting yourself. There is no cost to any spell card and they can be played anytime as long as it meets the play requirement on the card.

Creature Cards:

Each creature has a faction on the top left which is important for gameplay. They also have one or more creature types, three unique types of strengths, some creatures even have abilities that will activate when they are played.

Each creature also has a rarity (common, rare, epic and legendary) that is sometimes referred to by other card abilities. Legendary creatures are unique in the way that when playing creatures from your hand, only one legendary creature can be played.

Combat Form Cards:

This is why each creature has three types of strength. One of these combat cards will be revealed for each territory and will dictate what kind of strength the creatures will use for this territory.

Some of the combat form cards will have multiple strength types on it. In this instance, each creature uses their strongest strength.

Setup:

- Choose four of any of the seven factions.
- Shuffle the four factions together in separate territory, creatures and spell decks.
- Choose any amount of mercenaries and shuffle them into their respective decks.
- Shuffle the combat form deck and place one face-up on the board.
- Deal one territory on the board face up.
- Deal each player five creatures and three spells.
- Determine the first player.
- Set the defence track on the board to zero.

How to Play:

You are trying to remain supreme ruler over a territory through every player turn once (twice if you are playing at two players). Each turn there will be several phases including start of turn, combat, resolving combat, winning a territory, draw cards, and end of the turn.

Start of Turn:

This phase is very easy, any abilities that activate at the start of turn will now activate.

Combat:

This is the main phase. You will be playing a combination of creature cards to try to take the territory or create a defensive force that other players will have to try to defeat. There is no cost to playing creatures, however, there are rules; any amount of creatures can be played either all at once, or via multiple attack sequences if they are all the same faction (colour)

or the same creature type (e.g. archer or fae).

There are two exceptions to this rule; the mercenary who counts as all factions and can be played as a wild with any creature faction, and Legendaries, who are such powerful creatures that only one can be played in each grouping.

Once these creatures are played, combat will be totalled for the attacking team based on revealed combat form (e.g. all creatures use the wild [red] attack). If there is no defender, this group will be the defending group for the other players' turns. If there is already a defending group then whichever player has the highest attack will be the winning group. During this entire combat phase, any spells can be played to help the attacking player gain control or the defensive player remain control. The defending player can only cast spells and cannot add extra creatures.

Resolving Combat:

The combat will now conclude with either the defending player surviving or the attacking player taking the territory for themselves. In either case, all defeated creatures will be discarded and any effects that occur when a creature dies will now occur. If the attacking player is the winner they will now be the defensive group and will reset the defence track to equal their attack strength.

Winning a Territory:

If at any time in combat a player reaches 20 attack value they will automatically win and gain the territory. The other method of winning a territory is by defending successfully on every other players turn once, or twice in a two-player game.

Draw Cards:

If the players already have 10 cards they have reached the maximum hand size and cannot draw anymore. If that is not the case, they can draw two cards from any combination of the spell or creature deck. If a player has played no cards during the combat phase of their turn then they may draw one more card this turn, but still have a hand limit of 10 cards.

End of Turn and End of Game:

If there are any end of turn abilities they will now activate. Once a player has won three territories in a two or three-player game, or two territories in a four or five-player game, they have won the game and have ultimate supremacy.

Final Thoughts:

Pros:
- Has a unique ‘King of the Hill’ feeling mixed with Rummikub hand management and head to head combat.
- You can try and aim high to automatically gain territory by reaching 20 strength.
- Allows you decide when drawing cards whether spells or creatures would be more beneficial.
- Modular setup.
- The factions feel unique from each other.

'War of Supremacy' effectively merges several types of games to create a unique atmosphere and I can gladly say I haven't played any game like it. You can build a strategy in your hand based on what factions or creature types you gain, but you have to be careful because spells will alter the tide of battle. Each faction stands on its own and feels unique from the others where some may have a larger focus on drawing cards, allowing you to alter the strength used in combat, or they may alter your opponent's strategy more frequently. This is a great back and forth game of hand management, and as such, has earnt a Go-To Golden Game Seal and will definitely be seeing more plays.

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