Battles of Westeros will be on store shelves very soon, so it’s time to take a quick look at the different kinds of strategies that players can employ as they lead their House into battle. War is a brutal affair, and it takes expert leaders to navigate their men through the carnage of the battlefield. In Battles of Westeros this kind of leadership is represented by commanders and Leadership cards. Let us take a closer look at how to use them.

Commanders take the form of important military figures from the A Song of Ice & Fire book series, and they are assigned to each side according to the battle plans. Alternatively players can choose their commanders in a skirmish. When playing a skirmish, choosing your commander comes with its own strategic choices.

As mentioned in designer Rob Kouba’s preview of skirmishes, your commander selection will directly affect your available troops for the skirmish. The commanders with higher Command Limits (we’ll get into this later) also have the best troops on their card. When a player selects a commander for the skirmish, they will return that commander’s setup card to the box, meaning they will not have access to those units for the skirmish.

As an example, let’s look at Robb Stark and Maege Mormont. Robb has a great Command Limit of 3 and all of the units on his card are red rank. Meanwhile, Maege Mormont has a restricting Command Limit of 1 and a unit of green rank Northmen Archers and blue rank War Hosts of the North and Stark Kennelmasters. If the Stark player chose to take Maege as a commander, that means her card would be returned to the box and Robb’s card would be shuffled back into the remaining Skirmish Setup cards. The Stark player would then have the chance of possibly drawing Robb’s card while assembling units, giving him three red rank units for the skirmish!

One thing to remember when making this selection is that your commander’s Command Limit will often restrict you from ordering units with Leadership cards, so even if you manage to field the best troops, they might be harder to command. At the same time, with a higher Command Limit and inferior troops, you might face quick annihilation and weak defenses, depending on your enemy’s force. These are factors that you should weigh in when choosing your commander for a skirmish.

Each commander also adds their own set of five Leadership cards to your Leadership deck (remember these cards can be played on ANY of your commanders, not just the one pictured). You should familiarize yourself with these cards, studying the abilities and tactics listed on each. Depending on the luck of the draw you might be able to hold back certain cards to prepare for a deadly string of Leadership card combos. As an example, let’s look at the tactic available on Addam Marbrand’s Leadership cards.

Like all commanders, Addam Marbrand has his own unique tactic on all five of his Leadership cards. Tactics can be activated if the listed conditions are met when playing that particular Leadership card. In the case of Addam Marbrand, his tactic can be activated if Lannister morale is green or better. So to use this tactic, the Lannister player just needs to keep an eye on their morale and not let it drop too low. Also, Addam’s commander ability lets him always attack as if he were flanking. Take advantage of this!

When using Addam’s tactic in combination with his Warrior of Ashemark passive commander ability, you can create a vicious circle of flanking Lannisters. Assuming you can get Addam in a position where he is engaged with an enemy unit (since he is able to flank attack when engaged) and one or two friendly units are within his Zone of Command (ZOC), you could play the pictured Command card to order two units to flank attack the enemy unit engaged with Addam with +1 attack die. This strategy could single-handedly destroy an entire unit!

Now, let’s look at Rally cards. These can be your best friend or your worst enemy. There are two Rally cards (per House) in the core set, and if you happen to pull both on the same turn, it can really limit your options. But you’ll want to keep one around, since rallying can effectively turn the battle around. When using commanders with a Command Limit of 2 or less, cards that can rally troops are often ineffective unless you either have enough order tokens to order the rallied units or your rallied units are in the ZOC of another friendly commander. However, commanders with a Command Limit of 3 can easily order units, then rally, then order more units as long as command tokens are available.

The commander’s presence on the battlefield presents a number of tactical decisions, one of the main being: Do you want your commander’s unit on the frontline or supporting from the rear? Commanders like Gregor Clegane (with a capture rating of 4) make great frontline fighters. They can lose their entire unit and still be a formidable fighting force. However, commanders like Kevan Lannister provide great support from behind. His ability gives frontline fighters two dice in exchange for his attack (this turns archers into power-houses and gives red units a deadly six attack dice). Regardless, losing a commander too early in the game can be devastating, so don’t unnecessarily risk them.

Another thing to pay attention to is your commander’s commit ability. While you will quickly become familiar with your commander’s passive ability, their once-per-game commit ability can sometimes slip your mind. These abilities can save your skin and/or cripple your opponent if used at the right time. A good example of this is Gregor Clegane’s ability to flip his card after his unit eliminates another unit, then rolling 4 dice to possibly increase Lannister morale. This can be a good way set up another tactic on the same round.

Finally, players should definitely remember to check for instant win conditions and rout victories as according to their scenario or skirmish. This will inevitably influence your in-game decisions and strategies. Some of the instant wins are more difficult, but with battles like “Whispering Wood” and “Riverlands Rescue” the instant win is very attainable.

Check back often for more Battles of Westeros strategies!