World of Warcraft: Shadow of War Board Game

The World of Warcraft: Shattered Kingdom Board Game expansion -- from Fantasy Flight Games -- has changed its name to World of Warcraft: Shadow of War. The Official Site has been launched. Expect this product on September.

You can get a look at the sneak preview of card images below. The Shadow of War board game is currently at the printer, but advanced copies will be available at GenCon. For all the gamers that won’t be able to attend GenCon, here is the first preview of the expansion. It is the first card expansion for the best selling World of Warcraft: The Board Game. This expansion contains hundreds of new cards, both expanding the base game and introducing several innovative concepts. The new item deck rewards players with interesting trinkets and artifacts. A new quest deck puts a bounty on independent creatures, rewarding characters for defeating blue creatures. Each class deck also receives ten new powers and ten new talents, further developing the character's arsenal of abilities and creating a richer gaming experience.

But the players are not the only ones with powerful new resources at their disposal. Each Overlord now has their own special cards that are shuffled into the event deck. If the players do not keep these minions in check, the Overlords can become even more dangerous!


For all the gamers that won’t be able to attend GenCon, here is the first preview of the expansion.

The box contains 468 cards, which astute readers will notice is the same number of cards included in the original board game! One of the expansion’s biggest additions is that each class receives 10 new powers and 10 new talents. The new class cards flesh out the characters’ strengths and compensate for some of their previous weaknesses, not to mention adding a ton of flexibility and replay value to each class. Some of the powers are not combat-related, but are just as powerful and add variety for players that are looking for interesting new tricks.

The Hunter’s Track Beasts power, for example, allows you to track independent (blue) creatures that are spawned from your quests. The Rogue’s Pick Pocket ability allows you to increase your quest’s reward, depending on whether you need gold or items. Of course, each class also receives an arsenal of new combat powers, including a new demon for the Warlock, new totems for the Shaman, feral powers for the Druid, Stealth buffs for the Rogue, some defensive spells for the Mage, and much, much more.

Another new feature is Power cards with a spellbook icon.

This icon allows you to equip the power at the beginning of any of your character actions, instead of waiting until the character management step. This allows you to equip more situation-specific powers when you actually need them the most.

One of the most anticipated features is the new blue Quest deck. These cards reward players for defeating independent creatures and can be used by either faction. Remember the Hunter’s Track Beasts card mentioned earlier? This power is even more useful, since you may be able to place independent creatures directly on your character to quickly complete the blue quest.

All of the Item decks receive a stack of new cards, including Special Item cards. A new type of item is also introduced in this expansion. Bonus Item cards are gained primarily by completing the new blue quests, but players may also receive them as rewards for resolving Destiny cards.

Bonus Items are mostly trinkets or items that you store in your bag. The items are not as powerful as most weapons or armor but can be equally useful in the right circumstances. Bonus items also have the advantage that you can stack up to seven of them in your bag before they count towards your bag limit.

The new Destiny cards are similar to Events, but they will have a dramatic impact on your games and tend to make the overlords even more challenging. Some of the Destiny cards can make life easier for the heroes, but those only stay in play a few turns. The small hourglass symbol on the bottom left corner of each card shows how many turns the effect lasts. Several of the Destiny cards are Bosses, which means players must defeat them before the timer runs out or pay the consequences!

Destiny cards also introduce six new overlord-specific cards, similar to the Kel’Thuzad event cards from the original game.

Not only does this give the overlords a powerful advantage, but it also builds their identities and defines their strengths and weaknesses. Each overlord-specific deck feels different from the other and guides your character to different goals and challenges. This will add a lot of variety and a bit of strategy for players that plan ahead.

The best part of the Shadow of War expansion is that you can use any of the elements you want. If you want to play the standard game but give your character more options and flexibility, just add the new power and talent cards. If you want a bigger challenge, add the Destiny cards. Of course, I highly recommend that add all of the new cards if you want to truly enhance your gaming experience!