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Officer Vansen clutched at his neck and struggled to breathe as the thick, toxic gas filled his lungs. All around the InterGov security center, his fellow soldiers collapsed and gasped as the green smoke poured in from the vents overhead. As Vansen’s sight narrowed and he began to black out, the eastern wall erupted as an explosive charge detonated.

Milena Castro casually strolled through the hole in the side of the security center, being careful not to step on the bodies of InterGov officers now strewn across the floor. Clouds of necrogenic smoke still hovered above the ground, but the toxic clouds seemed to have no effect on Milena. She sidled up to the main terminal and began to disengage the tower’s security protocols. When she finished, she activated the comm link housed in her festively painted gas mask.

“Grave here,” Milena said into the comm, “The gate is down. I’ll join you in the main entryway shortly.”

Vansen’s body went into a fit of involuntary coughs, rousing the man from his blackout. He groaned in pain and rolled onto his side.

“Now, now,” said Milenna, pulling another necrogenic canister from her belt. “Who said you could wake up?”

Take Action

Welcome to another preview for Guardians! Last week we discussed the importance of location cards and how players will be battling over them to score points towards their victory. This week we’ll take a look at the actions available to players during the Action Phase of their turn. Players will need to string together the right combination of actions to disrupt their opponent and press the advantage in order to win in Guardians! Let’s take a closer look at these actions: 

Cunning Tactics

On a player’s turn, she may perform up to 3 actions during her Action Phase. In most cases these actions will be used to play cards from her hand (which we’ll explore in detail below), but there are several actions available to players that do not require cards to perform. First off, a player may attack an opposing hero with one of her  readied heroes at any location for 1 action. This will exhaust the hero, meaning most heroes can only attack once per turn. Next, a player may move a readied hero to an adjacent location for 1 action. Notice that since the hero has to be readied, a hero that is exhausted from attacking or any other effect cannot be moved by an action. Lastly, a player may draw a card from her draw pile for 1 action. These actions are the basic tools always always available to players, but the most impactful actions will come from playing cards from hand!

The Cost of War

Cards with an  cost may only be played during a player’s Action Phase on their turn. Many cards in the game will show the symbol in their top left-hand corner. This means to play this card a player will have to use one of her 3 actions. Additionally, some cards will show a  icon as well. This means the hero that card belongs to must be readied in order to play that card as well. In the example above, the player controlling Grave would need to have Grave readied and a remaining action to spend in order to play that card. These costs can also be found on Ultimate cards. 

In this example, the player controlling Grave would need to have Grave readied, a remaining action to spend and three charge tokens on “Last Gasp” in order to execute this ultimate. Most cards in Guardians cost at least an action to play, so determining how to spend your three actions each turn will be crucial for your victory!

That’s all for this week! Join us next week as we review the other card types in Guardians and how they affect the battlefield! Remember, Guardians is available for preorder now and will be hitting retailers and our own web store soon! You can find even more Guardians previews below as well as the announcement of the first Hero Pack here! 

Guardians Previews: Heroes of the Future, Fighting on the Frontline

Posted by Callin Flores Callin Flores the Plaid Hat Games Communication Specialist. Follow @MarsTheChild