Mission Pack: Tempest of War is a brand new deck of mission cards to spice up your games of Warhammer 40,000. It's available to pre-order right now, and you'll start to see it on store shelves from tomorrow. So if you’re looking for a quick and easy way to set up matched play games – or if you’ve already played through every scenario you can lay your grubby hands on – this delightful deck of cards can be used to generate thousands of different missions in a matter of moments.
Much like the Grand Tournament Mission Pack, the Tempest of War deck is designed for Incursion or Strike Force games – that’s 1,000 and 2,000 points, respectively. The pack contains 66 cards,* six objective tokens, and all the rules for using them to generate fast and fun matched play missions. It’s also designed for use by two players, so you can get started right away without your opponents needing to buy their own!
Tempest of War sits in a perfect sweet spot – it offers balance and variety for competitive gamers, while being quick and easy enough for casual players who still want to play with points balance. To find out how it struck this balance, we grilled Robin Cruddace of the Warhammer Studio.
Warhammer Community: It’s got a snazzy name, but what is Mission Pack: Tempest of War?
Robin Cruddace: Tempest of War is a matched play mission pack – in a box! It’s a set of cards that you can use to quickly generate unique missions. There’s no need to select a series of secondary missions before the battle – these are generated turn-by-turn as you play – so you can get into the action as quickly as possible.
WarCom: Who’s this mission pack aimed at?
Robin: We wanted to design something for casual, pick-up-and-play gamers who still enjoy matched play – but really, this set is great for anyone who wants to try something different. Tempest of War gives players the variety they've been asking for, without requiring loads of time for pre-battle selection of things like secondary missions. Rock up, shuffle your cards, and play!
WarCom: Where did the idea for a matched play deck come from?
Robin: Tempest of War actually originated as a project I put together over lockdown – with some blank cards, glue, and scissors to make a prototype deck – alongside the help of our playtesting teams. That poor deck is looking rather tatty now, it's been shuffled so much!
We've kept the best bits of the classic Maelstrom of War that people loved, removed the parts that they found frustrating, and evolved it into Tempest of War. It captures the feel of a dynamic conflict, with commanders having to react to the ebb and flow of battle, but it does so in a format and mission structure that firmly sits within the 9th edition of Warhammer 40,000.
WarCom: What are some of the most important changes from previous mission generators?
Robin: The idea of having secondary missions that can change from turn to turn will be very familiar to people who have played Maelstrom of War, but we’ve ensured that players will never be stuck with cards they cannot achieve – this was a common complaint of the previous Maelstrom missions, which we’ve altered.
Having a mission generator in a card deck will be familiar to those who’ve played Open War before, but this pack places more emphasis on fair and balanced gameplay. The mission rules will be familiar to any current matched play gamer, with many of them inspired by current Grand Tournament rules.
Thanks, Robin! Mission Pack: Tempest of War is available to pre-order right now, so bust open your cabinets, pack up your armies, and prepare to hit the gaming table very soon. Make sure to share pictures of the epic clashes you’ll generate with us over at Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Why not sign up to our newsletter for all the latest gameplay updates?
* That’s six Primary Mission cards, six Deployment cards, 12 Mission Rule cards, and two decks of 20 Secondary Mission cards, one each for the attacker and defender – plus two New Orders Stratagem cards, for those who want to quickly change their tactical priorities.