Armageddon Empires

Armageddon Empires is a turn-based strategy war game that combines elements of collectible card games, board games and computer games. You choose one of four factions, build a deck and fight for control of a randomly generated wasteland map. A normal-sized map can support a death match against one AI opponent that finishes within an hour, while a huge map lets you battle the other three factions in a much larger game. The game includes the Cults of the Wasteland and Tip of the Spear expansions.

Factions and resources

Each faction has its own play style, strengths and weaknesses. Your deck uses seven main card types: Heroes, Units, Facilities, Attack cards (Aircraft, Helo/Hover and Missile), Attachments, Munitions and Tactics.

The map is seeded with resources, independent units and facilities. Playing cards draws on four resources—Humans, Materials, Energy and Technology—which are scattered across the board. Some are concentrated in the ruins of human cities; others lie in battlefield junk heaps or are buried in the wastes.

Explore and build armies

You deploy heroes and units to scout the map and find resources or independent forces. These range from human slavers, raiders and mercenaries to alien warlords, rogue machine masterminds and mutated monsters. Depending on your faction, some may join you, possibly for a price, while others fight to the death.

Each army is a rectangular playing piece and can contain one hero and up to eight units. Keep within the hero’s command rating: exceeding it reduces the army’s attack, defense and movement. Actions cost Action Points, so you must plan how to use them.

Fight for the wasteland

You can attack enemy armies within range of your strongholds and outposts with Aircraft, Missile or Helo (Hover Ship) cards. In air attacks and ground combat, both sides roll dice: three sides show the faction symbol for a success, while the other three are blank. The attacker’s and defender’s successes are compared, and any excess attack successes deal damage. Some aircraft and all heroes have fate points that can reroll failed dice. Tactic cards can alter a roll by adding dice, rerolling an opponent’s dice, turning them into failures or removing them.

When two armies without stealth meet in a hex, a battle begins. Battles can involve multiple army stacks; you choose their fighting order, then armies fight until one side is destroyed, left with only a leader, or retreats. The side with a combat-capable army remaining on the battlefield wins the hex. Retreating units face a free attack, and their heroes may be captured or killed. Captured enemy heroes are held at the nearest friendly stronghold or outpost and generate one bonus Action Point per player turn.

Units become committed after attacking or using a special ability and cannot act again until the next round. Players take turns attacking or using abilities, then can withdraw the active army, retreat all armies or continue fighting. Withdrawal and retreat expose units to free attacks; a retreat can also leave heroes without units vulnerable to capture or death. If both sides retreat, no free attacks are made.

Claim the wasteland

To win, you must occupy or destroy each enemy stronghold. You can pursue a direct ground campaign, develop a secret weapon in your laboratories to destroy an enemy, or use stealth and sabotage. Your opponents move against you too, and a single nuclear strike can change the course of a fight.