The release of Battle of Westeros is nearly upon us, but there's still plenty to preview before it hits store shelves. Previously, designer Rob Kouba has taken us through combat, terrain, troop management, and unit types. Today, Rob takes us through a closer look at commanders. Enjoy!

Field commanders in Westeros play a large part as they direct and maneuver the bulk of your army throughout the battle. While forces can certainly exist and function on their own, commanders allow players to order units more efficiently and this coordination can often swing the balance in your favor.

Seat at the Table
Although battle plans specify which commanders to use, advanced players will soon be paying attention to what specific commanders bring to the table when playing skirmishes, player-created scenarios, or other battles where players can choose which commanders to employ.

The biggest difference are the cards that a commander will “donate” to the Leadership deck. This deck is comprised of ten basic cards that each House has in common. However, each commander also has 5 cards which are included when he is present in the battle. By learning which commanders’ cards work well together with your particular play style, you’ll gain an advantage when you have an option to recruit your choice of commanders.

Can I See Your ID?
Each commander has a corresponding Commander card that gives you valuable information regarding your commander. Some of the more important things to be found on the Commander card are:

• Name & Title: The title is what most players will concern themselves with as it details which version of a particular commander a player must use. This will affect which stats and abilities the commander has.
• Command Limit: The number of command tokens that can be placed on this commander. This restricts the number of leadership cards that can be used by commanders. In the core set, this value can be from 1 to 3.
• Capture Rating: Commanders are usually worth more alive than dead as they can provide leverage against your enemies. In order to defeat a given commander, you must roll hits equal to or greater than the capture rating in a single attack. Otherwise the capture attempt fails.

Abilities Great & Small
Commander cards also specify two types of abilities: unit abilities and commit abilities. While a unit ability can be used for the duration of the battle, a commit ability can typically only be used once.

Unit abilities are also in addition to the normal abilities figures of that unit type possess. For example, a unit type with the advance ability will still have the advance ability if it comprises the commander’s unit.

Commit abilities are usually more substantial abilities that are limited. Use of a commit ability is monitored by which side a commander is on. The uncommitted side (full-color) side denotes that the commit ability is still unused. The card is merely flipped facedown when the ability is used to the uncommitted (one-color) side.

Tactical Advantage
Tactics are special card effects that can be used before the main text (command) of the Leadership card is resolved. Each of the five Leadership cards that a commander donates to your leadership deck have the bottom portion (tactic) of the card in common. Since these tactics have to be triggered, it is important that players familiarize themselves with the different tactics they can take advantage of. In this way, a player can work towards fulfilling the trigger on a future turn if they can’t do it on the current turn.

Human Target
It is important to realize from the beginning of the game that commanders are a very important asset and that an early loss can be a very debilitating blow to even the strongest army.

Thanks Rob! Keep watching for more on Battles of Westeros.