Warring Colonies: Leaders and Loot
New survivors and items in Dead of Winter Warring Colonies
The men have you backed into an alley. Stinging blood runs into your eyes, and you realize you won’t survive this encounter. But before you can beg for your life, you hear someone call out, “Desist, evil-doer! This citizen is under the protection of… The Enforcer!”
For owners of both Dead of Winter and Dead of Winter: The Long Night, Dead of Winter: Warring Colonies offers a team vs. team variant for 4-11 players. The past two weeks we have previewed the exciting features of this new variant, including combat and simultaneous turns, as well as the new objectives and shared crises. But this variant is far from the only feature you will find in the box. Warring Colonies introduces new survivors, items, crises, and crossroads that can be used to expand ANY game of Dead of winter. Today we will be taking a look at these new survivors and items.
Put Me In, Coach…
Warring Colonies adds 15 new survivors to the semi-cooperative cast of Dead of Winter. While three of these survivors have abilities unique to the Warring Colonies variant (such as Charlotte Ross and her ability to selectively steal cards from opponents, albeit from the somewhat risky position of the enemy colony), the rest have abilities that can be utilized in any Dead of Winter game.
George Coleman and Bernadette Wilson both have strong abilities, but they can be used only if they are group leaders. Thus, if one of these survivors joins your party mid-game, you’ll have to wait to use their ability until the current leader’s unfortunate (or not so unfortunate) death makes room for their promotion.
Honiahaka is unique in having the first survivor ability of Dead of Winter that can influence votes. And Huang Fen can’t do much by herself, but put her in a group and she’ll take charge, offering the necessary encouragement to get things done.
While the zombie apocalypse has the tendency to bring out the worst of people, for some, it brings out the best. This is certainly the case with The Enforcer. Able to dispatch 3 zombies at once, The Enforcer is willing to (loudly) risk life and limb for justice and the greater good. (We recommended coming prepared with a list of heroic sounding catchphrases).
Look at This Stuff, Isn’t It Neat?
Warring Colonies comes packed with 43 new item cards that are part of the Random Item module. This module is a simple and easy way to add even more variety to the six location decks. During setup, players shuffle five cards from the random item deck into each location deck. This module is always used with the Warring Colonies variant, but can also be used to add variety to any game of Dead of Winter.
Fireworks offers the perfect distraction needed to steal equipped items away from enemies (or friends), and the ever-essential coffee can supercharge any turn. Having a map greatly reduces the uncertainty of travel while the metal detector provides targeted assistance in acquiring tools and weapons. And the grenade? Please be careful where you toss that thing.
The Stage Is Almost Set
More characters, more items, more crossroads, more crises. Without even touching the team vs. team variant, Dead of Winter: Warring Colonies has a lot to offer. Join us next week for another preview as we delve into the idiosyncratic world of the Lone Wolf.
Also, don't forget to check out Dead of Winter, the new comic from Oni Press arriving this August!
Look for Dead of Winter: Warring Colonies THIS AUGUST!
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Written by Timothy Meyer |
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