Warhammer Underworlds: Nightvault takes the Shadespire sequel into the catacombs

Warhammer Underworlds board game spin-off Shadespire is getting a second season in form of expansion-sequel Nightvault.

As in Shadespire, Nightvault is a blend of hex-based miniatures combat and card-driven deckbuilding, pitting two players against each other on an arena-like board to complete objectives and eliminate their rival’s units.

Nightvault builds on the slick, quick-playing rules of Shadespire with new mechanics for scatter, plus the introduction of magic spells and hexes on the board that can instantly kill those pushed onto them.

There’s also now the option for competitive Matched Play, balancing the game’s asymmetric factions to a tournament level of fairness.

Lore-wise, the game takes place in the fallen city of Shadespire, after evil-doing necromancer Nagash has released the cursed spirits contained in the titular dungeon catacombs. Trying to contain the spectral baddies is a squad of Sigmar’s Stormcast Eternals attempting to take control of the city and claim its valuable Shadeglass.

The box comes with two Warhammer: Age of Sigmar warbands – three Stormcast Eternals and seven Nighthaunt units headed up by the Briar Queen – made up of push-fit models that can be put together without glue, plus two double-sided map boards and the various cards and tokens needed.

Although Nightvault can be played by itself, it can be combined with a second copy or Shadespire’s core set to enable three- and four-player modes, with additional rules in the book to support the expanded player counts.

Like Shadespire, Nightvault’s standard set will cost £40 – though Games Workshop is offering a fully-stocked ‘New Release Collection’ of all the game’s various accessories and optional hazard tile miniatures (replacing the standard tiles) for just under £100. You can expect that various faction expansions won’t be far behind, too.

It’ll be out on September 29th – that’s this Saturday.