“The Great Cataclysm shook the firmament with such force its echoes still pervade, and always will. All semblance of tranquility was blasted away in an instant. A screaming gale of raw magic enveloped the lands and the beasts that dwelt within.”
    –Warhammer, “War Unending”

Catalcysm is a deluxe, multiplayer-focused expansion for Warhammer: Invasion The Card Game that contains rules and components to support games with as many as four players.

With its rulebook, thirty-eight tokens, six fulcrum cards, and 159 player cards (three copies each of fifty-three different cards), Cataclysm introduces a new format in which two to four players can war for dominion over the Old World. The expansion also provides new ammunition for those who wish to continue exploring the fast-paced, bloody, back-and-forth battles of the two-player matches from the Warhammer: Invasion The Card Game Core Set .

Dominion Over the Old World

In Cataclysm , the races of the Old World collide in massive, multi-pronged battles that scar the landscape and change the shape of nations! Armies of the Empire face mounting threats on every border. Chaos marauders sweep down from the frozen north, spurred by dreams of conquest. Dwarfs launch thunderous volleys of cannon fire against those who would besiege their holds, and howling hordes of battle-crazed Orcs fling themselves bodily into their latest Waaagh! while the High Elves and Druchii open new chapters in their centuries of conflict.

Driven by pride and hatred, each race seeks to assert its dominance over the others, and Cataclysm introduces a new way of measuring each player’s efforts to conquer the Old World.

In the multiplayer Cataclysm format, dominance is represented by a new type of token the expansion introduces. When a player gains a points of dominance, he places one dominance token on his capital board. The number of dominance tokens each player has on his capital board illustrates the success of his efforts to subdue his foes and establish his rule.

Players can gain dominance by controlling fulcrums (see below). They can also lose dominance:

• Each time a player’s zone burns, he loses one dominance.
• Each time a player’s deck is depleted, he loses one dominance.
• The first time any player has either all three of his zones burning or no cards left in his deck (whichever happens first in the game), that player loses a point of dominance. This is in addition to the one dominance he loses normally.

In Cataclysm , the Old World’s armies conclude their frenzied final attacks at the end of any round in which the players trigger any of three game ending conditions:

• A player has all three zones of his capital burning.
• A player has no cards left in his deck.
• A player has eight or more total dominance after gaining dominance during the end of round stage.

At the end of the round in which one of these conditions is met, the player with the most dominance wins the match.

Fulcrums

Throughout games of Cataclysm , the races of the Old World build their kingdoms, commit units to vital quests, and muster forces in their battlefields as they seek to emerge victorious at the ultimate conclusion of the shifting tides of war.

The key? The six sites of power known as fulcrums, locations where confluences of powerful magical energies grant tremendous boons to those who can channel them.

Witchfate Tor , a fulcrum.

These fulcrums show up in Cataclysm as a new type of card that gets shuffled into a separate fulcrum deck. At the beginning of each round, one of these fulcrums is revealed and added to the play area until the players have reached their maximum number of fulcrums (one less than the number of players in the game).

Once a fulcrum is in play, players can choose whether or not they wish to attack it. In Cataclysm , each player gains a chance to attack one fulcrum each battlefield phase, in addition to the normal opportunity to declare an attack against an opponent’s zone or legend. Fulcrums cannot take damage, but if a player would deal at least a single point of damage to the fulcrum from the attack, he instead takes control of fulcrum and moves it to his battlefield.

At the end of each round, players who control fulcrums gain a number of dominance tokens equal to the number of dominance icons on all fulcrums he controls.

Lair of the Astromancer grants one dominance at the end of the round.

In addition, each fulcrum offers unique advantages to any player who controls it. By placing an uncorrupted unit in his battlefield onto a fulcrum, the player can choose to have that unit “channel” the fulcrum, triggering its effects. Accordingly, these sites and their magical energies may help players move toward victory in more ways than one.

Battle Plans

In Cataclysm , the game’s six races gain new units, supports, and tactics that play to their core strengths and identities as they pursue conquest of the Old World.

• Even in the multiplayer format, Dwarfs rely upon their toughness and supports to withstand their enemies’ most brutal attacks and retaliate. Meanwhile, their grudges continue to fuel their attacks, and they gain several cards that boost their power while their zones are burning.
• Orcs launch their attacks with a maniacal frenzy, gaining strength and focus whenever they catch the scent of blood, and several of Orc cards can enter play for free or trigger actions when the Greenskins burn an opponent’s zone.
• The Empire excels at unifying its armies and marshaling tactical defenses. It features a number of cards that grant bonuses while their controller has no burnt zones.
• The High Elves remain an insular race, focusing on defense, healing, and control as they wear down their opponents with indirect damage. To help advance these strategies, they rely upon the talents of a few new Mages .
• As the other nations burn, the seeds of Chaos are sown. New units, Attachments , and tactics that gain power as opponents’ zones burn lend truth to the idea that Chaos grows as others falter.
• Dark Elves continue to bleed their opponents, destroying their supplies and spirits with hand and deck discard effects, as well as new ways to steal their opponents’ units.

Additionally, while the cards from Cataclysm will likely find their way into numerous two-player decks, many of them feature abilities that are particularly pertinent in multiplayer. Cards like Seeds of Chaos ( Cataclysm , 40) may offer powerful abilities at frightening efficiency, but they allow your opponents to decide how to apply those effects.

Multiplayer Warhammer: Invasion may not revolve around brokering tenuous, fragile alliances, but it still pays to know your enemies and to know who you can use to deflect attention from your armies as you build toward the position from which you can launch your final, unstoppable assault!

The war for dominion of the Old World is larger than ever before with the multiplayer battles of Cataclysm !