Battle Lines: Nomad and Bolster!

After the tragedy of Hivefall, the surviving Hivetenders have become Nomads, traveling Thera in caravans hoping to find a new place to rebuild. Meanwhile the citizens and soldiers of Steelwarren have been besieged by an army of beasts. Only by Bolstering their defenses will they have a chance to survive.

Welcome to the second of three preview articles for Battle Lines. Last time we looked at two of the major mechanics that Battle Lines has to offer. And today there are two more to look at!

Let’s start with Time, Fire, and Justice, the factions representing The Hive Caravan. The Caravan is formed by Hivetenders, Lanterns, and Mistrals, and they bring a new battle skill to the table: Nomad. You’ll only find Nomad in these factions in Battle Lines.

Nomad is a battle skill that is always followed by a number. Nomad X means “This unit has Flying on your turn and +X/+X on the enemy turn.”

So Hexamancer is a 2/2 Flyer on your turn, but a 4/4 ground unit on the opponent’s turn. Great for attacking or for blocking, but you have to choose which you’d prefer.

When you give Nomad to a unit that already has Nomad, you add the values together. Playing Pilgrim’s Pack on a unit with Nomad 1, it’ll become a unit with Nomad 3. If you play another, it’ll jump up to Nomad 5! That’s a lot of extra stats to have on your blockers!

And adding Nomad to a unit with Flying will cause it to gain the stats on the opponent’s turn without it losing Flying. The same is true if giving Flying to a unit with Nomad.

Normally Nomad gives you the choice of having an evasive attacker, or an efficient defender. But with Queenguard Elite’s Endurance, you can do both! Soar over your opponent’s defenses on your turn, then turn away their onslaught on theirs!

Lastly, we have Steelwarren represented by Justice, Time, and Shadow. Steelwarren is composed of Fiera’s soldiers, Ziat’s enforcers, and the people’s rebellion headed by Dran. And their mechanic Bolster will be found exclusively within their factions in Battle Lines.

“Bolster: Effect” is a game term that means “Once per turn, when you gain Health or Armor, do the listed effect.”

In Charming Steelguard’s case, this means playing a 1/2 Aegis unit the first time you gain Health or Armor. The next time you gain Health or Armor that turn, The Steelguard will fail to enlist anyone, but he’ll be ready again on the next person’s turn.

Like Recruit, Bolster can appear on all sorts of card types. Fang Trap may not reduce the enemy unit’s stats by much on its own… but trigger Bolster a few times and they’ll soon find themselves unable to stand.

Ziat’s very busy now trying to keep the people of Steelwarren safe. What better way to do that than by just killing anything that threatens them?

How will you handle The Hermit’s beast army? Will you Bolster yourself with plenty of Health and Armor to withstand the onslaught? Or will you embrace a Nomadic lifestyle, to have the tactical advantage over your enemies? Make your choice soon, as Battle Lines comes out on October 18th!