Hello Thrones Community,
The Design Team and Committee is excited to present The Spoils of War, the seventh expansion of the GOT Era! With the earlier packs introducing the assault keyword and the broadening of the Army, Commander and Stronghold traits, this expansion intends to provide new interactions with those cards – as well as counters and safeguards against them. In addition to all of this, The Spoils of War offers greater control over ambush, shadows, and other such tactics.
We hope you enjoy!
Ser Gilbert Farring joins House Baratheon as a fearsome foe to the enemies of King Stannis. This Knight gains strength and renown when a participating character – be they friend or foe – has the assault keyword, making a versatile supporter or counter to many of the recently-added Army characters.Accompanying him we have, after existing for so long as merely a Trait, the isle of Dragonstone itself! A subtly potent location if paired with Banished from the Light or Dark and Full of Terrors, the tactical island can imprison any card sent into shadows via card effect.
On the topic of shadows and restrictions, we have Dagmer Cleftjaw of House Greyjoy. Boasting pillage and stealth, this Ironborn invader continues the theme of thriving in Winter; such a plot card allows the Captain to be marshaled into shadows from out of your dead pile! Alternatively, a counter to shadow cards comes with The Myrish Lens. With it one can reveal cards in shadows, discard any events you find, while granting insight if there are no cards in shadows at all.
The Lannisters already excel in the shadows, and so focus on renown and assault. With Ser Daven Lannister we have a Commander who can reduce an opponent’s hand and increase your own, his Oxcross Survivors are a weak but cheap Army who grow in strength and gain assault when led by the appropriate Lannister.
Across the Narrow Sea, House Martell conspires with sellswords like Caggo Corpsekiller; at once a Commander, a Mercenary, and a Dothraki, this character can prevent someone’s return to hand or shadows by moving them to their owner’s dead pile instead. We see the arrival of the classically Dornish War Scorpion, a deadly piece of artillery that can remove characters from a challenge – or, if they are an Army or Dragon, instead simply kill them.
At the opposite end of the Seven Kingdoms, the Night’s Watch receive a new Commander in the form of Iron Emmett. This Ranger not only brings stealth and a Power icon to his order, but by kneeling he can prevent the arrival of any character with a Military icon during the challenges phase. Moving from the pride of Eastwatch to one of the Wall’s western forts, we have The Shadow Tower. After forcibly recruiting any non-unique characters it reveals from shadows, it then gives any characters you control – but do not own – a boost in strength.
Moving south to the North we have King Robb’s Bannermen, a simple but brutally effective Army whose utilisation of assault is doubled in the presence of a Stark King. Also benefiting from such a character is The Crag of The Westerlands, which can reward any successful Military challenge you declare with a generous supply of power – at the cost of denying you any Intrigue challenges.
Among the freedmen of House Targaryen, we have the appropriately named Hero, a Commander in service to Daenerys. This Unsullied rewards victory – if achieved despite a smaller hand than your foe – with the ability to stand either his fellow Companion Grey Worm or any Army character. Perhaps also seen at the siege of Meereen is a Legacy event worthy of Aegon the Conqueror: The Field of Fire, which introduces a new form of burn, weakening vast swathes of characters for each high-cost Dragon you control.
And finally, a family who benefited greatly from such a moment in history, House Tyrell; their additions in this pack excel at restricting and manipulating their opponents. The often-underestimated Mace Tyrell, for example, can stand and remove one of his Army characters from a challenge to stand and remove another character of equal or lower cost. His Highgarden Sept is similarly subtle in its potency; drawing a card with each power gained by a The Seven card you control, and then rewarding a large hand with an embargo on non-The Seven characters entering play.
And, as always, many of the mechanics explored here are touched upon by neutral cards. Vanguard Leader, for example, is a free Title which allows any unique character the chance to act as a Commander. Far more costly – in every sense of the word – is The Trident, which grants an increase in any challenge’s claim. Its price, however, is the sacrifice of another neutral location – or else The Trident must be given to your defeated foe…
Finally, we have the Battle of the Camps plot, which rewards a successful Military attack with the ability to kneel one of the defender’s characters.
This tool for control grows to become functionally an additional Military claim if the chosen character has the Army trait, as one can then choose to simply kill it instead.
But these are only some of the many cards arriving with this pack, each with their own role and potential! As always, we are extremely excited to see what the community does with these new cards, as well as the new life they bring to existing themes and mechanics.
