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New Warhammer Quest: Cursed City Preview (Part 1)

The Cursed City of Ulfenkarn

We are very excited to dive into the new Games Workshop board game set within the Age of Sigmar universe, Warhammer Quest: Cursed City. The story begins after the Necroquake, the explosion that caused the undead to rise from the Mortal Realms. These events drove legendary warrior, Radukar the Wolf, to become infused with rage and begin a murderous rampage across the city, slaughtering everything in his path.

Mournhold was founded during the Age of Myth and changed to Ulfenkarn by Radukar the Wolf, meaning ‘the wolf’s feast’. When the Dark Gods invaded the Mortal Realms, the city was isolated and survivors agreed to find a potential saviour, one they would soon regret.

There is multiple references to wolves in the trailer, as well as a full moon, we can hear during the trailer ‘know this wolf, you’re not the first monster we have hunted’. My guess is that these references are referring to Radukar the Wolf who once saved the city. However, his new found power has left Ulfenkarn surrounded by corpses, vampires and slaves.

Warhammer Quest: Cursed City will be available to pre-order from the 3rd of April and will be released on the 10th of April 2021.

Warhammer Quest: Cursed City Components

Cursed City is a co-operative game in which players work together to save Ulfenkarn from Radukar the Wolf and his legions of ghouls and undead monsters.

This epic game is packed with hundreds of components listed below:

  • 8 Heroes – Jelsen Darrock, Qulathis the Exile, Emelda Braskov, Dagnai Holdenstock, Glaurio ven Alten III, Cleona Zeitengale, Octren Glimscry & Brutogg Corspse-Eater.
  • 42 Hostiles – Gorslav the Gravekeeper, Watch Captain Halgrim, Torgillius the Chamberlain, Vyrkos Blood-born, Radukar the Wolf and more.
  • Rule Book
  • Quest Book – 56 pages long
  • 10 Objective Markers
  • Warscroll Book
  • Counters & Tokens
  • Board Tiles
  • Cards
  • Secret Envelope

On the 29th of March Warhammer gave us the video the gameplay release. We now know that the game is split up into three different journeys with different victory conditions: Hunt, Deliverance & Scavenge. Each turn has also been split up into five different phases: The Journey Phase, Destiny Phase, Initiative Phase, Activation Phase & Event Phase. Using all the information we can find, we have explained these phases for you so you know exactly what to expect.

Cursed City Gameplay Overview

You can play Cursed City solo or with up to another 3 players for a fully cooperative dungeon-crawling adventure. Below is an overview of how to play the game:

  1. Select one player to give the lead token to. The leader will have the responsibility of actions such as moving hostile models and rolling for attacks.
  2. Choose which journey you want to take. Each one has different victory conditions: Hunt, Deliverance & Scavenge.
  3. Pick your fighters and give each player four activation dice.
  4. Set up the game board based on the journey you have chosen.
  5. Draw encounter cards equal to the number of the object markers.
  6. Use the models listed on the first line of each encounter card.
  7. Each turn is split into five phases: Journey Phase, Destiny Phase, Initiative Phase, Activation Phase & Event Phase.
  8. In the event of a crisis occurring, the leader must select a hero to deal with it. Successful heroes will get rewards, but failing can be bad news for the city.
  9. After the crisis, the hero will return and continue the journey to save the city.
  10. Each journey has a different victory condition. To win the hunt journey, slay 10 hostile champions and be careful of levels of fear and influence.
  11. After you complete your journey, heroes can recuperate from injuries.

Journey Phase

The Journey Phase is split up into two steps, the nightfall step and the quest step. During the nightfall step, the nightfall token will be moved one space clockwise around the board indicating the passage of time. This is followed by the quest step which is followed on specific journeys allowing players to complete bonus objectives and actions.

Destiny Phase

During the Destiny Phase, destiny dice will generate for heroes to use later in the game. Roll all five of the destiny dice and discard any doubles, triples, quadruples or quintuples. The rest of the dice (if any) will be moved to the white space on the board so they are usable by the whole party.

Initiative Phase

For this phase, activation dice are generated so players can perform actions later in the turn and the order in which heroes and villains act will be determined. Each player will roll one activation die for each empty space on their character cards. The better your roll, the better the activation will be. The leader makes an initiative deck which determines who goes in which order during the activation phase. To make the deck, shuffle every initiative card for your heroes and hostile group in play. Drawing one at a time, place them from left to right on the combat track to determine the order. If you do not like this order, you can perform a Gambit which requires you to spend one of your activation dice.

Activation Phase

In the Activation Phase, heroes and villains will take it in turns to move around, fight and use abilities. Each hero can perform one of six actions by spending one activation dice: Move, Run, Search, Recuperate and Unique Abilities. As you slay more enemies, your hero will become inspired, making them better fighters. During attacks you can use treasure cards to defend your hero from being wounded. For every space taken by a wound token, you will lose an activation dice. If all spaces are taken by wound tokens, the hero will be out of action the next time they receive damage. Once all heroes and hostiles have activated the next phase commences.

Event Phase

This phase reveals whether your journey will end or continue. The leader will roll the dice on the event table where some heroes may be returned, a hostile gets free moves, or disaster occurs. Once this phase is complete, the Journey Phase will begin again to start another turn.

Cursed City Summary

We hope you have enjoyed reading our Cursed City preview. Subscribe to our Newsletter below to make sure you don’t miss out on any future offers, previews and releases!

Keep an eye out for part two of our Cursed City preview coming very soon, where we will be introducing the fantastic miniatures that come with the game, including the Agents of Defiance and the Overlords of Ulfenkarn!

Remember to pre-order Warhammer Quest: Cursed City on April the 3rd in time for release on the 10th April