Rivals Plus Review: Silent Menace, Essentials Pack, & Illusory Might

We previously wrote up a Rivals review for all of the Beastgrave (blog here), Direchasm (blog here), and Harrowdeep (blog here) Warbands. In this post, we cover the options for building a Rivals+ deck: Silent Menace, Essentials, and Illusory Might.

For anyone that isn't familiar, Rivals+ adds an element of deck-building to the Rivals format. In Rivals+ you can build a deck using warband-specific cards plus cards from one other pre-defined set. We break from the norm in the rating that we give each supplemental set and give separate ratings for the Objectives, Gambits, and Upgrades in each deck.

Podcast: https://podcast.battle-mallet.com/e/episode-35-hex-ed-rivals-plus-review/

Rivals+ Supplemental Sets

Silent Menace

No fighter cards to review, but we dive into Warbands you might want to use further down.

Key Cards

  • Objectives:
    • Impending Doom (Surge: Score this immediately after an activation if one or more enemy fighters are adjacent to two or more friendly fighters - fairly easy to set up)
    • Cold-blooded Killers (Score this in an end phase if two or more enemy fighters are out of action)
    • Demolish the Opposition: (Hybrid: Score this in the third end phase if: There are no enemy fighters in enemy territory OR There is no more than one surviving enemy fighter).
  • Gambits:
    • Hypnotic Buzz (Choose one enemy within 2 hexes of one or more friendly fighters. Push the chosen fighter 1 hex - always nice to push an enemy fighter)
    • Membranous Wings (+2 Move to the next friendly fighter to make a Charge action. This effect persists until after the next friendly fighter's Charge action.)
    • Symbiote's Call (Pick one feature token within 1 hex of one or more friendly fighters, then pick one: flip that token, or push one friendly fighter 1 hex so that they are in the same hex as that token - great way to stop your opponent from scoring the "hold all objectives" cards)
    • Honorable Mention: Strength of the Swarm +1 Dice to the next Attack action made by a friendly fighter if the attacker has one or more supporting fighters. In addition, +1 Damage to the next Attack action made by a friendly fighter if the attacker has two or more supporting fighters. This effect persists until after the next Attack action made by a friendly fighter)
  • Upgrades:
    • Augmented Limbs (This fighter is a Quarry. If this fighter is a Quarry, this fighter's Range 1 Attack actions have +1 Dice)
    • Chitin Scimitar/Chitin Spear (Range 1, 3 Fury, 2 Damage w/ Cleave OR Range 2, 2 Smash, 2 Damage; both let you re-roll 1 dice if there are no successes - good in Rivals+ where individual die rolls are more important)
    • Savage Soldier (This fighter has the following cumulative benefits, determined by how many upgrades they have: 2+: +1 Dice to this fighter's Range 1 Attack actions; 4+ This fighter's Attack actions have Cleave and Ensnare)

What Warband(s) Should I Pick?

Any warband that favors supports and/or being adjacent to enemy fighters. Our top pick is Da Kunnin' Krew.

Rating

  • Objectives: Silver - Focused on a specific playstyle, but easier glory than other the other two available supplemental sets
  • Gambits: Gold - Good positioning cards
  • Upgrades: Gold - All the +1 Dice upgrades plus some decent Attack action upgrades and utility.

The Essentials Pack

No fighter cards to review, but we dive into Warbands you might want to use further down.

Key Cards

  • Objectives:
    • Branching Fate (Surge: Score this immediately after an Attack roll if you roll three or more dice during the attack or defense roll and they all show a different symbol)
    • Strong Start (Surge: Score this immediately after the first fighter is taken out of action in this round, if that fighter is an enemy fighter.)
    • Making a Statement (Score this in an end phase if your warband holds each objective in one opponent's territory. 3 Glory!)
  • Gambits:
    • Sidestep (Choose one friendly fighter and push that fighter 1 hex)
    • Duel of Wits (Reaction: Play this after an opponent lays a ploy. Draw two power cards)
    • Centre of Attention (Choose on fighter and push each other fighter that is within 2 hexes of the chosen fighter up to 1 hex so that they are closer to the chosen fighter in an order that you choose)
  • Upgrades:
    • Great Strength (+1 Damage to this fighter's Range 1 or 2 Attack actions)
    • Great Fortitude (+1 Wounds)
    • Gloryseeker (+1 Damage to this fighter's Attack actions that target a fighter with a Wounds characteristic of 4 or more)

What Warband(s) Should I Pick?

You likely want to choose a warband with multiple fighters with 3-dice attacks and that wants to be in the opponent's territory. The objectives really lend themselves towards aggressive warbands. 

Rating

  • Objectives: Silver - The easier-to-score cards really force you into a specific playstyle, but there are some high-risk/high reward cards.
  • Gambits: Gold - ALL the positioning/pushes.
  • Upgrades: Gold - ALL the additional damage upgrades.

Illusory Might

No fighter cards to review, but we dive into Warbands you might want to use further down.

Key Cards

  • Objectives:
    • Horrors in the Dark (Surge, Hybrid: Score this immediately after an activation if: Two or more friendly fighters are in cover hexes that are not in your territory OR two or more friendly fighters hold objectives that are not in your territory; This card aligns with a lot of everything else that the deck wants to do and informs which Warbands make the most sense to use)
    • Out of Time (Hybrid: Score this in an end phase if: Your warband holds a number of objectives equal to the round number OR the number of friendly fighters in cover hexes is equal to the round number; Lines up with Horrors in the Dark and other objectives)
    • Trace the Leylines (Score this in an end phase if there are X or more friendly fighters within X hexes of an objective that is not held by an enemy fighter, where X is that objective's number [e.g. if there are two or more friendly fighters within 2 hexes of objective 2]; This objective is fairly easy to set up, especially because you know your objective numbers when you place your feature tokens)
  • Gambits:
    • Cover of Darkness (Pick one: Gambits cannot deal damage. This effect persists until the end of the next power step OR Push one friendly fighter up to 2 hexes into a cover hex; Pushes are already good, but this one helps you set up your Objectives, too)
    • Illusory Find (Reveal cards from the top of your power deck one by one until you reveal an Illusion upgrade. Add that card to your hand, then return the revealed cards to your power deck and shuffle your power deck. If you did not reveal an Illusion upgrade, return the revealed cards to your power deck and shuffle your power deck; a great way to fish for Illusion upgrades)
    • Transfer of Power (Choose two friendly fighters who each have one or more Illusion upgrades and no Charge tokens. Place each chosen fighter in the hex that was occupied by the other fighter when you chose them; Offers some opportunities for shenanigans to get key fighters into a good position, but note that this Gambit says "choose," so the fighters will lose their Illusion upgrades)
  • Upgrades:
    • Phantom Fists (Illusion*: Attack Action - Range 1, 3 Smash, 2 Damage with Stagger; A nice accurate attack that sets up future attacks by applying Stagger, super good for low-wound fighters with bad attacks)
    • Ephemeral Fortitude (This fighter has a Wounds characteristic of 4 in rounds 1 and 2, and a Wounds characteristic of 2 in round 3. This fighter's Wounds characteristic cannot be modified; Such a good upgrade to keep a disposable fighter alive to do some work for a couple of rounds.)
    • Weapons Master (+1 Damage to this fighter's Range 1 and Range 2 Attack actions while this fighter has three or more upgrades; you really only need two other upgrades and this one is really good since +1 Damage is so hard to come by in Rivals)

Illusion*

Do not spend any glory points when you play this card. At the end of the action phase, or when this fighter is chosen by a gambit or is dealt damage, break (discard) this card.

What Warband(s) Should I Pick?

You still want to pick a warband with a variety of Wounds characteristics, at least 5 fighters, and some free movement or pushes built-in to their fighter cards. You're looking for glass cannons.

When you are able to add in warband-specific cards, Zarbag's Gitz, Thorns of the Briar Queen (Varclav's push), Spiteclaw's Swarm (for the ability to bring back fighters), Eyes of the Nine, Blackpowder's Buccaneers, and Garrek's Reavers.

Rating

  • Objectives: Silver - The objectives here force your playstyle a little less, but will force you to likely take some specific Upgrades.
  • Gambits: Bronze - Not a lot good here, unfortunately
  • Upgrades: Gold - The free Attack action upgrades are hard to dismiss