Every time you play Runewars Miniatures Game, you’ll have the chance to test your tactical acumen as you lead your chosen army against a single opponent. You will marshal an army and array them for battle—combining solid blocks of infantry, thundering columns of cavalry, and mighty siege units like the magically animated rune golems. Then, using innovative command tools, you and your opponent will order your units on the field of battle, carefully maneuvering, shifting position, charging, and locking in brutal melee combat. With intensely customizable deployment and objectives, plenty of ways to upgrade your units, and beautifully sculpted, unpainted miniatures, Runewars offers countless ways to personalize your army, both visually and mechanically. 

Take Command, General

At the beginning of a game of Runewars, your army is arrayed before you. Rather than taking command of a small group of single figures, Runewars invites you to experience warfare on an epic scale—you’ll send your figures marching forward in formation, orchestrating grand strategic movements as you battle your opponent for victory.  

Figures in the game are deployed in trays, rather than individually, offering a realistic interpretation of large-scale battles instead of small skirmishes. Multiple trays of figures can interlock to form larger units, and as your units inevitably clash and take damage, figures and trays will be removed. Of course, leading an army composed of multiple units can be difficult, so to accomplish this, Runewars offers innovative command tools that invite you to control your units’ every action.

Each unit in Runewars has a command tool, like the one shown above, consisting of two dials: the action dial on the left and the modifier dial on the right. The action dial offers a variety of possible actions, including marching forward, shifting position, rallying your shaken troops, or attacking enemy units. At the beginning of a round, you’ll set command tools for each of your units, carefully deciding what they’ll do during the coming round. 

At the same time that you choose your action, you’ll also make a selection on your modifier dial. Modifiers can enhance your actions in different ways and give you ways to adapt to the changing tides of battle. The modifier may turn a forward march into a wheeling maneuver or a deadly charge, boost your damage during an attack, increase your defensive prowess, or even allow you to take an additional action. The only restriction is that your modifier’s color must match the color of your chosen action. 

On the dial shown above, the Spearmen will march forward using the “2” speed movement template, while the modifier dial changes this movement into a turn with a different movement template!

Of course, every type of unit in Runewars features a completely unique command tool, giving them access to entirely different combinations of actions and modifiers. You wouldn't expect a block of heavy infantry to react as nimbly as some lightly armed archers, and the unique dials given to each unit reflect this fact. 

Selecting an action does more than just determine what your unit will do in the next round—it also determines the order in which your units will act. Each action symbol has a number in the upper-left corner. During the round, these numbers determine the order in which units act, adding another layer to the strategies you must consider. You may want to order your Oathsworn Cavalry to charge and flank a block of Reanimates, but depending on your initiative numbers, you can’t be certain that the Reanimates will still be there when your Oathsworn Cavalry arrive. To claim victory in Runewars, you won’t just need to predict where your foes will move—you’ll have to foresee when they’re going to move as well. 

Forward March 

There are six distinct actions that you can choose on your unit’s action wheel, but not every unit has access to every action, and each action’s color and initiative number can vary dramatically from unit to unit. The six actions in Runewars are:

March: This action is the most basic way for your units to move forward on the map. To move a block of units, you’ll simply align the movement template with a front corner of your unit, and slide your unit forward along the movement template until the same corner aligns with the end of the template. You can see an example of movement in the diagram below.

The Reanimates execute a march order, moving along the battlefield using the movement template.

Shift: The shift action is similar to march, but this allows you to extend the movement template off of any corner of your unit. You may use this to slide over to a better position or stage a tactical retreat from a difficult situation.

Reform: By choosing to reform, you can rotate your unit on its center point to face in any other direction. Whether you’re pivoting to face a unit that’s slipped behind you or simply turning to prepare for a flanking assault, using the reform command to change your facing can be incredibly useful. 

This Oathsworn Cavalry unit uses a reform action to spin on its center, preparing to face a new threat.

Melee Attack / Ranged Attack: When you reveal one of these actions, you’ll be able to engage enemy units in battle and deal losses to enemy units. Every unit has a unique die pool that’s  rolled in combat, whether you’re crossing blades with the enemy or firing arrows and magic from afar. The results you roll can deal damage, trigger special abilities, or panic enemy units, and depending on your units’ formation, you may be able to increase your damage or reroll your dice. Ultimately, the wider your formation, the more damage caused by each hit, and the deeper your formation, the more chances you’ll have to reroll dice. 

The Reanimate Archers fire at the oncoming Spearmen!

Rally: Waging war is hard on your warriors, and the rally action allows you to remove harmful bane tokens, such as panic, stun, and blight. What’s more, many upgrade cards attached to your units must be exhausted to trigger. These upgrade cards won’t ready automatically—in order to ready all of a unit’s upgrade cards, you must order that unit to take a rally action.

Skill: This action has no inherent value, but several units and upgrades feature a special ability that can only be triggered by selecting the skill action on your command tool.

Customize Your Army

The gameplay of Runewars is inherently dynamic, offering you countless ways to shift your units, plan assaults, and react to what your opponents have planned. You’ll quickly learn that the game has a matching depth of customizability as you marshal your forces and create your army before you ever march into battle on the fields of Terrinoth.

There are two distinct factions included in the base set of Runewars, and each offers a completely unique approach to the wars that you’ll fight. On the side of Terrinoth, you’ll find the Daqan Lords, noble human warriors with years of training in battle. Measured ranks of spearmen, armor-clad knights, and monstrous, magically formed rune golems can all be found among the armies of the Daqan Lords. 

Opposing these mighty forces, you’ll encounter the undead legions of Waiqar the Undying. Marching out of the noxious Mistlands, Waiqar’s undead are utterly implacable and intent on crushing Terrinoth. As a commander of the undead army, you’ll command hordes of shambling reanimates that can replenish their ranks with corpses from the battlefield. Undead have even been sighted riding on carrion worms—loathsome, maggot-like creatures that spread disease and corruption wherever their writhing path takes them. 

Of course, it’s not just your chosen units that open the door for customization in Runewars. You can adjust your unit’s formation by spending different amounts of points, and upgrade cards let you charge individual units with a variety of unique advantages. You may employ Terrifying Heraldry to frighten enemy units who come too close to your position or sound a Metered March,  giving you unparalleled control over where your units end their movement. You may even embed a Front Line Rune Golem in the first rank of your unit, supplementing your Spearmen with the power of an enraged Rune Golem. By upgrading your troops and altering their formation, you gain an unbelievable amount of room to customize your army—creating a force that acts and responds exactly the way you want it to.

The beginning of every game offers another opportunity for you to customize the game and make difficult strategic choices. You’ll never be certain exactly how you’re allowed to deploy your units until the game begins, meaning you might have to formulate a new strategy on the fly to adapt to changing conditions. What’s more, your exact objectives can change from game to game. Though you can always earn points by destroying enemy figures, if you haven’t completely annihilated your opponent by the end of eight rounds, the player with the most points will win the game!

Finally, you have another outlet to ensure your army is completely unique in the way that you paint and customize your figures. Runewars figures come unpainted, giving you a blank canvas to create an army that truly reflects the style and aesthetic that you want to use. Whether you assemble your figures according to the directions in the rulebook, or create bold new modifications and alternate paint schemes, the world of Terrinoth is yours to enter and enjoy when you start painting and creating your own army of Runewars figures. We’ll offer a variety of painting tutorials in the support section lower on this page for the game’s release!

Sound the Warhorns

War has come to Terrinoth, and you are in command. Marshal your army, lead your forces in the service of the Daqan Lords or Waiqar the Undying, and carve your name in the annals of Terrinoth forever. The Runewars are about to begin.