Introduction

Corvus Belli, the company behind the fantastic Infinity game, have been hard at work developing Warcrow, a new skirmish miniatures game set in a brand new fantasy universe. Warcrow sees players battling against each other using small warbands representing forces from the major factions which inhabit the fantasy world of Lindwurm. The world itself is steeped in magic and inhabited by various races such as Humans, Elves, Orcs, Dwarves and more sinister beings too. The factions of Lindwurm must not only contest with each other but must also strive to protect their peoples from the mysterious “Fog” which increasingly encroaches on the borders of the various holdings and cities that make up Lindwurm.

The game is set to release this summer on the 30th August and is available to pre-order now for £110 – if you want to support the site then why not use our affiliate Element Games and secure your copy now for a reduced £99!

Corvus Belli have kindly sent Sprues and Brews a review copy of their new two player starter battle box “Winds from the North” which contains everything you need to get started with this exciting new game! In this article we’ll take a close look at the contents of this box, which includes a collection of stunning miniatures, dice, tokens, rulers, rulebook and some excellent cardboard scenery. We’ll also take a deep dive into the rules to help give you a feel for how this new game system plays.

We’ve also filmed a full unboxing, review and deep dive of the rulebook which you can see just below or on YouTube

Warcrow Winds from the North is intended as an introductory product to get players started with the Warcrow game. It features two small forces for the Hegemony of Embersig and Northern Tribes factions in addition to an introductory rulebook which contains a learn to play section, introducing players to the various rules as well as a three scenario campaign to play through with the contents of the box. Let’s take a look at the contents in more detail here, starting first with the fantastic miniatures themselves!

What’s in the Box

Both the Hegemony of Embersig and Northern Tribes forces included in the box consist of seven very detailed 32mm scale models which sit on 30mm bases. The miniatures themselves are made from a soft plastic material and require minimal effort to clean of excess flash and simple assembly. Whilst no instructions are provided the models were super simple to put together with some of the Orc characters especially requiring a bit of extra effort to remove gaps etc. The detail on the miniatures is very crisp and I am very impressed with the quality. Each of the fourteen models are uniquely sculpted and when fully assembled look absolutely fantastic and are full of character. Each force consists of a couple of Character models and a handful of Troops. Both forces look absolutely fantastic when fully assembled and placed upon the battlefield. I’ve painted lots of Infinity models in my time and sometimes find it difficult to pick out the high level of detail on those models. Warcrow models are slightly larger when compared to an Infinity counterpart and this made them much easier to work with whilst painting.

For the Hegemony of Embersig we get “Drago the Anvil”, an Officer of the Hegemony’s military who leads this detachment into battle. In support there is a Frostfire Herald, an Elven mage who wields the power of the elements and a War Surgeon, a professional field medic who is able to help mend the Hegemony’s soldiers and also direct his allies on how best to despatch of their enemies. The main bulk of the force is made up of Black Legion Bucklermen, members of the Hegemony of Embersig’s well trained and equipped military force armed with sword and shield.

For the Northern Tribes we get a similar warband composition. There is “Alborc” the Orc Wrathmane, a brute of a leader distinguished not just by his size but also his flaming red mane. Then there is the Wisemane and Evoker. The former is a venerated elder of the tribe who provides sage council and experience to the younger warriors. The Evoker is a spiritual leader who wields shaman-like magic in support of the tribe. Finally there are the Orc Hunters who provide the main bulk of the fighting force, ferocious warriors armed with a variety of two handed axes and single handed blades.

There are a large number of cardboard tokens included in the box which are used to track and represent all manner of important gaming information, be that wounds, status markers, stress (more on this later), “Tinge” (again, more on this later), command points, objectives, activations and more. Included are two sets of cardboard rulers which allow both players to measure movement and range during a game (in Warcrow’s own ‘Strides’ scale). There is also a large cardboard dial or “Turn Tracker” used to track turns, special scenario events and other important information. Overall the quality of the cardboard components is great, no complaints here. That’s not all though as we also get a detailed 2’x2′ paper gaming mat and a collection of detailed 3D cardboard terrain, including a cottage, shed, walls and fences, which allows you to construct some interesting battlefields for you to fight across.

We also get a number of custom Warcrow D8 dice which are used during games to attack and defend in melee and at range, cast spells, resolve morale and more. The dice themselves come in a variety of colours and their faces show custom symbols which are used to score up hits, defence and trigger special abilities.

Finally we have the unit profile cards, one for each of the different units included in the box. These cards are slightly larger than a traditional playing card and contain all the unit’s stats and special rules. I really like the design and layout of these cards and they proved invaluable during games to quickly reference a unit’s capabilities mid fight.

Lastly we have the “Introductory Booklet” which serves as both a ‘Learn to Play’ and introductory campaign book designed to teach new players how to play Warcrow. The “Introductory Booklet” rulebook clocks in at just under 50 pages and provides an introduction to the Warcrow setting and the two featured factions. We get a detailed description of the units that make up the two forces included in the box as well as some fantastic artwork and images. After this we come to the “Learn to Play” section which introduces the players to the core concepts and mechanics of the game, taking players through a number of ‘staged’ turns in which you’ll learn the basics. Towards the end of this section we’re introduced to more advanced rules such as casting spells, the effects of various states, definitions of keywords and terms etc. It’s worth noting that the full Warcrow Rulebook is available for download from the official Warcrow website – the “Introductory Booklet” is exactly that and you’ll want to check out the full rulebook for a complete understanding. That said the “Introductory Booklet” does a fantastic job of teaching you how to play and contains everything you need to know to make full use of the included miniatures.

The latter half of the booklet is given over to a short campaign which sees players battle through a number of scenarios which see the Hegemony of Embersig’s forces attempt to repel an invading force from the Northern Tribes as they seek to establish a foothold in the territory of Grjotgard. The campaign itself is fully narrated, with alternative endings, unique in-game events to mix things up and a few more surprises which I won’t ruin here. What’s great here is that clear instructions are provided in terms of how to set up each scenario, where to place terrain etc. There is also a great little campaign log that players can use to track victories and achievements as they play through.

How to Play the Game

As alluded to earlier in this article, Warcrow is a skirmish miniatures game which compares in ‘scale’ to the likes of Games Workshop’s Warcry and Kill Team, Freecompany’s Eldfall Chronicles and Corvus Bellis’ own Infinity. The game is played out over a 2’x2′ area and sees each player controlling a small warband consisting of various officers and support characters fighting alongside your mainstay troops. As mentioned earlier, Winds from the North provides rules for three different scenarios which together form a small campaign and each scenario has a different set of victory conditions and scoring mechanics. In most of the scenarios you’ll be battling for control of various objectives littered across the battlefield but there are also various achievements to unlock for performing certain feats during the game which impact the overall result of the campaign itself.

Each scenario is pretty unique and you’ll often find that at certain points during the game various events will occur, such as snowstorm which forces your units to test whether they become slowed down or not, or the appearance of a daemonic monster which erupts from a frozen lake mid game to attack both player’s forces. As you play through these scenarios you’ll accumulate various types of victory points which contribute to each player’s progress through the campaign. They’ll often be various ‘optional’ objectives in a scenario that can only be interacted with by specific models in your warband, such as a mysterious half-elf who may provide useful information with regards to upcoming events or scenarios. Overall the scenarios do a great job of providing a narrative for your battles and offer a degree of replay value as players can switch sides or aim to unlock the various achievements etc.

The game itself is played over a number a number of rounds further split into a number of turns – all determined by the Scenario you are playing. Rounds and turns are tracked using the “Turn Counter” provided in the box. The player who holds initiative for the round being played will determine who activates first during each turn of that round and then play proceeds with each player alternating activation of a units in their warband each turn. You may have noticed that there may not be enough turns to actually fully activate all units in your warband before the end of the round. This adds an additional strategic element to gameplay and players will have to adapt to the ongoing state of the battlefield to make sure they are making best use of their limited activations. There is a phase at the end of each round which allows you to perform either a move or rest action with those units that have not activated this turn which means you’ll have some options regardless.

Units, Troops and Characters

In Warcrow your warband will consist of a number units, each with their own unit profile card which describes all of their statistics, special rules and abilities. A unit may consist of single ‘Character’ model, such as the Northern Tribes “Wrathmane” or could be made up multiple ‘Troop’ models, such as the Hegemony of Embersig’s “Black Legion Bucklermen”. Where a unit is made up of multiple models you’ll find they have multiple attack and defence profiles on their unit profile card to represent the unit’s fighting capabilities at the stated model count.

It’s also possible to attach certain ‘Character’ models to other units at the beginning of a scenario. ‘Character’ models that are eligible to attach to units no longer act independently but use an alternative ‘Character in Unit’ unit profile for game purposes. Characters joined to units in this way often provide powerful effects and bonuses to their unit, contributing additional attack dice or damage for example. They often enable powerful passive effects on their unit as well. The decision on whether to attach a character to a unit or not is an important one for players to make and they will have to weigh the pros and cons of allowing a character to act independently against joining a unit.

The ‘Character in Unit’ unit profile referred to above is actually presented on the bottom half of the unit’s profile card. When you attach a character to a unit you can simply slide their unit profile card beneath the parent unit’s own card leaving only the bottom half showing. I found this to be a really useful way of combining profile information.

There are various statistics and rules presented on the unit’s profile card and we look at most of them below as we dig deeper into the rules themselves. Some information will look familiar to Infinity players, with stats such as “MOV” and “AVB”, representing movement and availability respectively. Availability tells the player how many of that unit they may include in their warband – I assume you’ll often find the more elite units with a lower “AVB” value to represent their rarity.

The “Conquest” statistic is also an important statistic which reflects a unit’s ability to claim and contest objectives during a scenario. Objectives can be controlled by units if they end an activation within range and in the situation where multiple opposing units are in range players must refer to the “Conquest” statistic of each unit with the side with the highest cumulative “Conquest” value claiming the objective.

Activating a Unit – Stress and Morale

When you activate a unit in your warband you’re able to perform either two simple actions (of which one must be move) or one long action. Simple actions allow you to move, attack, perform a skill or cast a spell whereas the long actions allow you to charge or assault and we’ll take a closer look at these actions below. When a unit has been activated you place an “Activation” token on the unit’s profile card. A unit can only be activated in this way once per round but should you wish to activate the unit a second time (or more) you can by assigning a “Stress” token to the unit. Each unit can accumulate any number of “Stress” tokens however should the number of tokens ever exceed the “Morale” value of the unit (as shown on their profile card) then at the end of that unit’s activation they must perform a Willpower test, rolling the number and type of dice as indicated by their “WP” statistic looking for at least one “hit” symbol to pass. If the test is successful excess “Stress” tokens are removed from the unit and it can behave as normal. If the test is failed however the unit becomes demoralised.

This is an extremely negative state for a unit to find themselves in. The unit in effect becomes ‘inactive’ for a two turns, unable to be be activated and forfeiting any ability to control objectives. After two turns you’ll get an opportunity to “Rally” the unit and get them back in the fight. Failure to rally them however will see them remain in the demoralised state and attempt to flee the battle, immediately making a move towards the table edge in their deployment zone. You’ll get another attempt to rally them in another two turns’ time else you may find them fleeing from the battle altogether. You may think it might be tricky to track the demoralised state of units in your warband but Corvus Belli provide a helpful way to do this. When a unit becomes demoralised you’ll place a special numbered token on their profile card. In addition you’ll place a second token with the same number on the “Turn Tracker” two turns along. This provides a handy reminder to players for them to perform any rally attempts etc.

There is a real feeling of risk-reward to the Stress and Morale mechanics in Warcrow. It’s possible to use all your activations in a single round to push a single unit to the limit, allowing it to take multiple actions in sequence and exploit a gap in the opponent’s lines or make a bold play for an objective. Stress a unit too much though and you risk that unit ‘breaking’ and perhaps fleeing from battle, scuppering your strategy and potentially costing you the game. I enjoyed the flexibility that the Stress mechanic offered me as a player and it actually made for some pretty cinematic moments during our battles where we saw units defy all the odds to turn the tide of battle (or fail miserably and flee to my opponent’s delight).

Movement

So, how do you move units? Well first I just want to describe how distance and measurement is handled in games of Warcrow. Warcrow uses a unique unit of measurement called “Strides”, with one stride being equal to 15mm (half a standard base). The multiple range rulers included in the box all use this scale and can be used to help move and measure range in the game. With that said let’s look at how movement works.

Each model has a “MOV” stat on their profile represented by two numbers, for example the “Orc Hunter” unit has a “MOV” stat of “3-2”, which indicates the distance, measured in “Strides” that the unit can move, in any order you wish. For example you could move your “Orc Hunter” unit up to 3 strides and then a further 2 strides or vice versa. The only constraint is that each time you move the unit it must move in a straight line. Movement is not measured in the same way as you would in games of Warhammer, instead it works more like that of games like X-Wing whereby you’ll first place the appropriately sized range template touching your model’s base and then pick up and place the model so that its base is touching the other side of the range ruler. Various game effects can influence a unit’s movement, such as the “Slowed” state which prevents your units from using the second movement value on their profile or terrain elements which can hinder your movement. It’s important to note that you cannot end your movement in base to base contact with an enemy model either.

That’s the basics of movement but how do you move units consisting of multiple models? Such units, such as a unit of Black Legion Bucklermen, will have a individual model designated as a “Troop Leader”. To move such a unit you use the same rules as above to move the “Troop Leader” and then simply pick up and place the remaining models in the unit so that they are in formation with the “Troop Leader” – that is, within 2 strides worth of distance from the troop leader and within line of sight. This makes movement of units super straight forward and grants a degree of flexibility to the controlling player, allowing them to create choke points, form defensive lines around objectives or manoeuvre easily through and between terrain elements. Players will have to watch out as its quite possible for models in a unit to end up moving quite a bit further than their “MOV” statistic would indicate. From a gameplay experience I found it much simpler and quicker to manoeuvre my models using these rules when compared to other miniature skirmish games.

Charging and Assaulting

Performing a Charge or Assault action with a unit allows it to move into base to base contact with an enemy and then perform an attack. There are additional bonuses for units that Charge over Assaulting but otherwise these actions are very similar in their execution. For both actions you must move directly in a straight line and when making a charge action the target enemy unit must be visible. Charging or Assaulting with a unit that consists of multiple models is again centred around that unit’s “Troop Leader” which again simplifies and speeds up the whole process.

Melee and Ranged Combat

So now you’re up close and ready to start attacking your enemy, how do you do this? Those who play Infinity or Eldfall Chronicles will be familiar with the face to face rolling mechanic. Both players will simultaneously construct and then roll a dice pool to determine the results of their attack and defence respectively. The number and type of dice each player rolls will be determined by their unit’s stats and can be further influenced by a number of factors such as number of troops in the unit, bonuses conferred from command abilities (more on these later) and other sources or certain states inflicted on said units. Once dice have been rolled you’ll be tallying up ‘hits’ and ‘blocks’ to determine how much damage you’ll inflict on the target unit. Many attack and defence profiles on the different unit cards include “Switches”. These “Switches” can be ‘activated’ during your attack and defence to trigger other effects, such as additional damage or to inflict states on the opposing unit and are triggered by activating various special symbols, such as “!”, that you may roll on your dice.

Each unit has an individual “Attack” and “Defence” stat which determines which type and number of dice (plus any additional bonuses or effects) a unit will use whilst either attacking or defending. You’ll also find details of any special triggers on the profile card as well. For example if we look at the Northern Tribes Wrathmane profile card we can see he’ll roll 2 x red, 1 x orange and 1 x yellow dice when making melee attacks. In addition we can see that any hollow versions of the * or ! symbol that are rolled can be triggered to inflict additional damage and the vulnerable state on the opponent. This makes attacking and defending really engaging as both players will be looking to see what “switches” they can trigger in addition to just damaging their opponents.

Once the results of a combat have been calculated and damage has been assigned to the participants it’s time to determine the combat result. As a unit receives damage you’ll suffer casualties and remove models, which may degrade the combat abilities of that unit going forward. The amount of damage a unit can sustain is determined by their “W” or wounds statistic. When damage reaches this value you must remove a model from that unit as a casualty. Note there are ways to mitigate the damage a unit suffers and even return models to the unit as the game progresses. The winner of a round of combat goes to the unit that caused the most damage, the losing unit, if not fully destroyed, is then “pushed back”, making a move action using the first move statistic directly away from the winning unit. The winning unit can then make a follow up move to move back into base to base contact if desired. This leads to an interesting ‘back and forth’ flow to combat and allows for aggressive plays to force units off of objectives or into the range of other units in your warband that are yet to activate!

Some units are equipped with ranged weaponry, such pistols or rifles, and are able to make attacks from range against an enemy unit. Such an attack is made in much the same way, with both players rolling their attack and defence dice however only the attacking unit is able to activate the special symbols on their dice and trigger their abilities.

Spellcasting

Spell casting is also a powerful, if somewhat risky, option for certain magic using models in your warband. Both the Frostfire Herald and Evoker are able to cast spells and you’ll find on their respective profile cards the details for the spells they each have access to. The Frostfire Herald for example is able to cast the “Fire Blaze” spell on a target within 7 strides and if successfully cast allows them to make a ranged attack on this target using the dice shown on the unit’s profile card.

To cast a spell the unit must make a Willpower test, rolling a number of dice indicated by the unit’s “WP” statistic and looking for at least one “hit” symbol to succeed. There is a really cool risk-reward mechanic with spell casting, should the player wish to they can choose to ‘enhance’ the spell, opting to add additional effects as described on the unit’s profile card. For example the “Fire Blaze” spell above may have its range extended to 12 strides or can be modified further to include a “switch” which allows you to remove “blocks” from the opponent’s subsequent defensive roll.

The use of magic in the world of Warcrow carries risk though and there is a potential cost to enhancing spells in this way. Each time you choose to enhance a spell you’ll have to add a number of black dice to your Willpower test roll (the number of dice to be added is shown on the unit’s profile card alongside the spell’s details). The black dice have a chance to roll “block” symbols and each “block” symbol you roll will cancel one of your “hit” symbols making it trickier to successfully cast the spell. In addition, for each hollow version of the “block” symbol you roll your caster will become afflicted by “Tinge” and will accumulate “Tinge” tokens.

The mysterious “Tinge” can have a negative impact on not just the caster themselves but also on any troops nearby. In subsequent casting attempts you’ll have to add an additional black die to your Willpower test, making spell casting more difficult and increasing the chances you’ll acquire more “Tinge” tokens. What’s more if you’re unlucky enough to roll a hollow “!” symbol in you Willpower test you’ll have to check what additional effects the “Tinge” will have on your caster (and potentially their allies) immediately following your activation. The more “Tinge” tokens a model has the more severe the consequences.

With only one or two “Tinge” tokens your caster will receive additional stress tokens or possibly inflict the frightened state on nearby models (causing them to re-roll their own successful Willpower tests). With four or five “Tinge” tokens however you risk damaging nearby models or even destroying your caster completely! This risk-reward approach to spell casting is not only thematic but extremely fun. Players have the flexibility in being able to push their casters to the limit should the need arise in an attempt to turn the tide during a battle and risk all for victory!

Command Abilities

At the beginning of a Scenario each player will acquire a number of “Command Tokens” which can be exhausted during a game to activate any “Command Abilities” that their unit’s may have access to (as described upon their profile cards). These abilities can be triggered outside of the normal unit activation process, even in an opponent’s turn. The Frostfire Herald has a cool “Command Ability” which allows him to remove “Tinge” tokens for example whereas the Wisemane has a “Command Ability” which allows his unit to ‘fix’ the result of one of your dice rolls during a melee exchange. “Command Abilities” then are a powerful tool in a player’s arsenal and “Command Tokens” themselves a precious resource which must be managed and spent carefully to exploit maximum benefit. Many unit’s also possess “Passive Abilities” that are always considered in effect and these often provide bonuses to other units in your warband. The Wisemane for example bestows the “Fearless” state on the unit he is attached to.

Summary

I have really enjoyed my first experience with the Warcrow game and universe and a lot of that has to do with the quality of the Warcrow Winds from the North box! Available from some retailers for under £100 I am really impressed with the quality of its contents and also the gaming experience it provides. The components themselves are great – highly detailed and characterful models that were enjoyable to build and paint alongside some great terrain to enhance your battles. The “Introductory Booklet” does an excellent job of introducing you to the game without players having to spend loads of time pouring through pages and pages of rules. It’s also well laid out should the players need to quickly look something up during their games.

I feel Corvus Belli have done a fantastic job with the “Introductory Booklet” and suspect that wargame veterans and novices will be able to pick up the majority of Warcrow’s rules and mechanics in a short span of time. I also really enjoyed the ‘narrative’ elements of the book, and the short campaign. They provided a great context and setting to the games we played and really drew me into this new universe – I have to say I am really excited to learn more and more about the world or Lindwurm and it’s inhabitants.

From a gameplay perspective I found games of Warcrow to be really exciting and engaging. There is so much nuance and strategy for players to master as they gain more more experience with the game and this really excites me. The way movement and unit formation rules combine in this game give players so many impactful options when manoeuvring their forces around the battlefield and the flexibility provided by the stress and spellcasting mechanics allow daring players to take exciting and cinematic risks in an attempt to pull off decisive plays. In fact I think Corvus Belli have done an excellent job in creating a set of rules which provides such a cinematic play experience and I’m really looking forward to seeing where Warcrow goes next. I’m especially keen to see the range of models and factions expanded in the future (those Mounthaven Dwarves look very interesting…). Overall I am really impressed with the “Winds from the North” box and would definitely recommend it to both new and experienced players of miniature wargames.

Thank you again to Corvus Belli for kindly sending Sprues and Brews a review copy of their new two player starter battle box “Winds from the North”.