Stats:
No. of players: 2-4
Amount of time to play: 60-90 min
Age requirements: 12+
Set-up time: 5-10 minutes

Warmachine: High Command is a deck-building game set in the Iron Kingdoms. You battle over locations to score VPs. Can you build a better army than your opponents?

Warmachine: High Command Rules Description:

You begin High Command by choosing your three warcasters and the detachment of forces they will command. Each warcaster has two colors they are associated with. You can add all detachments of one color that matches your warcaster to your reinforcements. That means you start the game with three warcasters and three detachments. You also have a start hand of basic resources.

Each round a Winds of War card is flipped face-up. These cards trigger an event that is in effect for the round. They are randomly shuffled and stacked by early, mid, and late war cards. These cards can make that round easier or harder for you or have no effect at all. This deck also acts as a timer. Day of Reckoning is a card shuffled into the late war that ends the game immediately.

At the start of your turn you see if you have captured a location. At the start of the game you reveal as many location cards as there are players. If you ever have two more cards than another player at a location you capture it and add it to your discard pile. You then immediately reveal the top card from the location deck. Location cards go in your deck and grant you resources and are worth VPs. The location pile also acts as a game timer. If you need to add a location but the pile is empty the game is over. Any forces that were used to capture a location are put into your occupying forces pile and cannot be used again.

Next you may buy cards from your reinforcements. You take all your colored detachments and shuffle them together. Then you flip the first four next to each other. These are the cards you can buy. There are two resources in High Command, war and command. All the cards you add to your deck give you resources. Some give you both. You can only use one resource on each card. When buying cards you cannot make change from a resource card. So if you want to buy a card that costs three war and only have two cards with two war on them you must discard both cards and lose the extra resource. There are three ways to buy a card, purchase, rush or deploy. When you purchase a card is goes from your reinforcements to your discard pile. If you rush a card it goes straight from your reinforcements to a location. And to get a card from your hand to a location you must deploy it by paying the purchase price again. Some card in your reinforcements are worth VPs. If you don’t like your buying options you can discard a card to place one of them at the bottom of the reinforcement deck and flip a new card. You may bank one card you don’t spend until the next round. Last you draw six cards from your deck. Warcasters can only be rushed and only stay at a location for one turn. They are useful for turning the tide of a battle (see below) in your favor. But you can only use each war caster once per game.

If after buying cards you have units at a location with enemy units, you battle. If there is just one other faction there you both add up your power. You may then remove cards with a total health equal to or less than your power. If you are playing with three or four players there might be multiple factions for you to attack. You can choose to attack all units there if you want. Your attack is normal but you can remove any enemy cards you like. Your opponents add their power together for all units at the location. Then the player to your left determines which of your cards are removed. Cards removed from a battle go to their owner’s discard pile. After all battles are resolved it is the next player’s turn.

Every time you need to reshuffle your discard pile you may remove one card from it. This can help you thin your deck and remove the less useful starting cards.

If the Day of Reckoning card or if you need a new location and the location deck is empty the game is over. You add all the VPs in your discard pile, hand and draw pile. The player with the most VPs wins the game.

Quick Review of High Command:

High Command is a unique deck-builder with solid mechanics that is fun too. The deck-building is different in that you only buy your own cards. Each faction and each different color of detachment plays differently. Part of the fun of this game figuring out how the different detachments play and finding synergies between them.

The components in this game are really nice. The art is great and the rules are well written with good examples of play and there is even a FAQ out. The cards are of good quality and the insert is well-designed. I do wish the type on the cards was bigger. You find yourself picking up cards to examine your opponent’s cards often.

I like the way the cards move around your play area and that winning a location requires you to continue to buy units and build your army. You can never just build your deck to a certain point and stop buying cards, sit back and win.

The built in mechanic to thin your deck and being able to discard a card to cycle through your reinforcements are nice touches that help you manage your cards.

I think that expansions will add to the fun and fix the things in the game that are not so good. There are a couple things I wish were different. First it seems like the factions are not totally balanced. Some have more VPs in their detachments and thus don’t have to fight as much to gain VPs. Also in multi-player games it does not always help you to attack your opponents. It just weakens you and the person you attack, not the other players.

I played this with two, three and four players and with three and four it is a different experience. There is more politicking, beat up on the leader and possibly kingmaker. So if you don’t like those things you should stick with two players.

Though not perfect I just like the way this game plays and how everything works together. The game has good depth and is just plain fun. Even though there are some elements from Smash Up and Dominion, High Command is it’s own game. It is not necessarily a casual game. I think it will be much better for players that want to really get into it and use the and master the same faction. If you are looking for a unique game with fun mechanics and decent depth, you should pick this up. If you enjoy War Machine you should definitely try this game out.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 4 out of 6
Luck 4 out of 6
Player Interaction 4 out of 6
Replay Value 5 out of 6
Complexity 4 out of 6
Fun 5 out of 6
Overall 5 out of 6