War of the Dragon: The Wheel of Time® – Area Control & The Map

War of the Dragon: The Wheel of Time^® is now live on Kickstarter! Today, we’re looking at the key main pillar of War of the Dragon gameplay, and that’s area control. There’s a whole big map to play on, and claiming it (and holding it!) is a key factor to victory.

In The Wheel of Time^® series, Rand al’Thor spends a lot of his energy on bringing the various nations of the Westlands together in preparation for the Last Battle. Humanity needed to present a unified front in the fight against the Shadow, and the same is true here. Although the Shadow will rise and spread, the Light will need to assert its control, even when it means facing down the dreaded Forsaken and purging their insidious corruption.

The Forsaken Sammael rules in Illian…unless you gather enough strength to root him out and claim the Crown of Swords for yourself.

Take a Look Around

For fans of The Wheel of Time, our map will be familiar: The chance to explore such a beloved setting was one of the most exciting parts of development of War of the Dragon, especially the chance to pull it all together in a big, beautiful map. So much so that we were excited to be able to offer an art print as part of the campaign.  Many of the larger spaces you’ll find on the board represent the canonical nations of the Westlands, from the hardened hills of Shienar in the Borderlands to coastal Tarabon on the Aryth Ocean. These are the building blocks of “Randland” which the Light must try to rally together and the Shadow wants to bring under their thumb.

In addition, the board also contains many city spaces, a mix of the most vibrant centers of humanity and the sites of many of the key events of the series. Cities may not cover much ground, but they are especially important because the Shadow player can spread corruption there, turning them into bases of evil, which gain the Shadow player extra advantages beyond just control. A corrupted city becomes an immediate point of contention, as the Light player must seek to break the Shadow’s hold before too many stack up!

Corruption is an extra source of VP for the Shadow – and it gives strength, too!

Raise Your Banner

The spaces on the map, cities included, are grouped into seven regions. While controlling a single space is helpful on its own, additional benefits emerge when you claim a whole region, which requires controlling half of its total spaces.

Regions grant Banner progress to their controller – one just for taking control of them, but more at the end of every chapter – sending your Banner track ticking up higher and higher. These tracks are the largest source of VP in the game, creating the foundation that can launch you to victory (or crumble under your feet if neglected). No matter which side or game mode you’re playing, you’ll want to spread out and expand your territory. 

Control of the map also affects missions, which are major story events that players will contest during the game. If a mission represents something that took place in, say, Tar Valon, then holding the Tar Valon map space will give you a leg up toward winning it.

For smaller locations like Stedding Shangtai, Far Madding, Shadar Logoth, and others, the missions will indicate which board space is under contention.

You’ll find towns, landmarks, and other features all over the map.

Send Me On My Ways

It’s a big world, and when something is happening half a continent away, you don’t always have time for a long journey. The Shadow has a bit of an advantage here when they call on the Ways, a secret network that can move armies of Shadowspawn to the exact spot where the Light doesn’t want to see them. This is only one of several effects in War of the Dragon that uses the Travel keyword, allowing you to move to a far-away space in a single turn.

 

Moving quickly can be the key to seizing the map.

If you don’t have a Travel effect, you might still be able to reposition your forces as they recover from defeat. Your characters and armies will sometimes get routed during play, removing them from the board for a short time. When they make it back, you can place them in any space you control; your map presence will determine what options you have, so holding a space or two deep in enemy territory might prove to be the opportunity you need!

What We Fight For

In a game of Epic Mode, control of the map will often be decided by battles between armies – but territory isn’t the only thing on the line in these showdowns. It’s only one out of several rewards that are up for grabs, and you’ll have to decide what’s important enough to fight for. If you focus only on the map, you’ll leave rewards on the table for your opponent – but give it away too cheaply and you’ll lose your foothold! Smart decision-making is key. A Great Captain will have to figure out exactly how much to commit and what to sacrifice in order to win the day.

Map Out

The map in War of the Dragon isn’t just a battlefield for area control – it’s a chance to revisit the places that make the Wheel of Time so resonant and rich. We’ve put a lot of effort into not only the gameplay, but also look and feel of the world. As fans of the series and also as fans of maps, we wanted to share a representation of the world that we would all have fun playing in!

Discover more of the world of The Wheel of Time when you back War of the Dragon on Kickstarter!