Halgrad: What You Can Expect To See

It won't be long now before Halgrad: The Tabletop Skirmish Game hits shelves both digital and physical, with UK based stores already signing up to be a part of the release.

But the burning question remains, what is Halgrad, what can players expect to experience? We'll break it down for you: 

 

 

1. Highly Customisable Characters

Characters in Halgrad can be made in a huge variety of ways, tailored to the needs of you, the warband leader. Some Characters are mighty, greatsword-swinging Soldiers, while others are shadowy Assassins, daring Rangers or wise Wizards. Some are skilled Commanders, inspiring their warriors to fight on no matter the odds, while dark-hearted Tyrants drive their underlings into the teeth of the foe with verbal threats and a flick of the lash.

When creating your Warband, you will be able to choose your Leader's Species, Class, Wargear, and Warband; you'll even be given 3 Skill Points, to spend on Class Traits that truly make your Leader your own.

2. A New Experience; Every. Single. Time.

Halgrad, for all its careful balancing, also features a wild array of randomisation. Every game, the Players roll for Deployment, Game Mode, and Hazards, even rolling to discover what kind of Dark Denizens dwell within this part of the city and, perhaps even more importantly, how many. 

What this means is that Players have to contend with the city itself, as well as the enemy Warbands, ranged-focussed Warbands might find themselves blessed with long-edge deployment and minimal Denizen presence, or they might have stumbled into a nest of a dozen creatures, deploying right in the teeth of the enemy. 

Every single game of Halgrad will be different to the last!

3. A City Full Of Horrors

As mentioned in point 2; each game of Halgrad will see the Players contending not just with the enemy, but with the city itself. In game, these generally come in two forms; Denizens, and Hazards

Denizens are the creatures that call Halgrad home. They are a collection of madmen, spirits, monsters and demons. The Drekh for example are a race of goblinoid creatures found in the Slavering Warrens beneath the city. They aren't the most frightening combatants, but they are numerous, and their toxic blood often proves to be more dangerous than the goblin carrying it! While in stark contrast stands the Valamis, the Demon-Men of The Pit. Each and every Valamis legionary (Kynashir) was once a human soul, tormented and broken inside the bowels of The Pit, reforged and given a new, dark purpose. They are the demonic footsoldiers of the Archdemons, clad in snarling plate mail and carrying swords of black steel, more than a challenge for any warrior that faces them man to man (man to demon-man?). Feared above all are the Apex Predators, creatures of unmatched might that can wipe out entire Warbands, if caught unawares.

Hazards on the other hand are a reflection of the environment in the part of the city where the game is taking place. Sometimes, this can be fairly mundane, like thick mist, heavy rain, or burning buildings, sometimes it's even simply 'quiet'. Other parts of the city are blasted hellscapes, filled with spirits that wail in torment, sapping the will of your warriors, or places where even the plants hunger for blood.

4. An Ever Expanding World

One thing I always loved about fantasy games and stories was just how big the worlds felt. It was always so amazing to experience something totally new in a normally familiar setting, like the introduction of the Lizardmen in Warhammer Fantasy, or the various battlegrounds of the Clone Wars in Star Wars, when I wrote the Sundering Cycle (the setting for Halgrad), I wanted to capture that same feeling.

That's why I'll be releasing regular expansions to the game, many of which will be given away freely. Expect to see dwarf pirates, elves that can control darkness, and the blood-magic wielding men of Ghyrsholme. 

And yes, of course all of these will be getting unique miniatures designed in time for release! (Like these awesome Goblin Trappers, which were designed for us by our fantastic friends, and Halgrad Collaborators over at Khurzluk Miniatures)

To Conclude

Well, that's all we've got on Halgrad today, check in over the next couple of days for the next preview.

A big thank you again to our key collaborators; Khurzluk Miniatures; Conquest Creations; Labyrinth Health and Fitness; and Phantasm 3D have all been instrumental in seeing this game go from concept to tabletop.

Happy hobbying! 

 

- Mak