“For thousands of years after the collapse of the polar gates, with the immediate threat of Chaos thwarted, the Lizardmen existed in relative seclusion while the world changed around them.”
–Warhammer: Lizardmen

The Old World shudders with the throes of eternal war. Ancient animosities and powerful ambitions drive the world’s races to conflict, and even those who have long kept to the sides cannot long remain isolated…

Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce the upcoming release of Hidden Kingdoms , the fifth deluxe expansion for Warhammer: Invasion The Card Game !

The Lizardmen of Lustria travel far from their jungle homes to impose the laws of their masters across the Old World. Within the forests of Athel Loren, the Wood Elves hunger for vengeance and muster for war. In the depths of their subterranean kingdom, Skaven hordes plot, scheme, and multiply. Meanwhile, the Old World’s Vampire Counts and Undead thirst for blood and begin to turn their attentions to the lands beyond the borders of forsaken Sylvania.

In Hidden Kingdoms , these four neutral races launch their assaults!

Each becomes a playable faction, complete with its own capital, legend, faction-specific supports, a host of new units, and powerful support for its racial themes and mechanics. The 172 cards (including four capital cards and the maximum legal number of fifty-five different player cards) of Hidden Kingdoms hand players the keys to fun and effective strategies built around Skaven swarms, Wood Elf developments, and the Necromancy and Savage keywords.

Capitals to Call Home

The battles of Warhammer: Invasion The Card Game are battles for dominion over the Old World. You build from the strength of your capital. You win by burning your opponent’s capital.

Accordingly, each of the game’s factions must have its own capital. The Men of the Empire rule from their palaces and outposts. The Dwarfs hold their Karaks. The Dark Elves of Naggaroth forge their war plans in the frozen spires of Naggaroth. Even without a kingdom to call their own, the greenskin tribes dominate vast tracts of land where they establish crude lairs and massive campsites from which they can fuel their next Waaagh! In Hidden Kingdoms , the Lizardmen , Wood Elves , Undead , and Skaven all gain capitals that they can call home.

Lead developer Brad Andres explains how these capitals help to turn the game’s neutral races into full-fledged factions with rich personalities:

“The most exciting piece of the Hidden Kingdoms expansion is the new capital cards. Players will finally be able to field some of their favorite races from their home turf, and they’ll reap benefits for doing so. These capitals don’t have loyalty icons; instead, each capital has a special ability designed to play to the advantage of its home race. These abilities provide synergies with each neutral race’s cards, in the existing card pool and in Hidden Kingdoms , and the capitals’ abilities also reinforce their races’ mechanical identities.”

Instead of a loyalty symbol, each neutral race’s capital bears a racial icon that corresponds to the faction-specific capital rules outlined in the Hidden Kingdoms rules insert. The Lizardmen and Wood Elves capitals are aligned with the forces of Order, while the Skaven and Undead capitals are aligned with the forces of Destruction. Each neutral race’s capital allows the play of faction-specific units and legends. Additionally, each racial icon is tied to a unique game effect.

	After an attack against you is resolved, deal 1 uncancellable damage to a unit that participated in the attack.
	After determining the first player during Setup, place 1 card from the top of your deck into each zone as a development (start with the Kingdom Zone, then the Battlefield Zone, and finally the Quest Zone).
	You have 2 [POWER] in both your Kingdom and Quest Zones. Lower the cost of the first Skaven unit you play into your battlefield each turn by 1.
	After determining the first player during Setup, discard the top 5 cards of your deck.

As Brad states, these neutral race capitals do more than allow you to play each faction’s faction-specific units, supports, and legends. They bolster each race’s signature personality and mechanics, giving you plenty of reasons to consider playing these races on their own, rather than as support for another of the game’s factions!

They Will Be Legendary

In addition to their new capitals, the new neutral factions from Hidden Kingdoms all welcome the arrival of new legends to lead their troops to battle. These legends can only be played if you field the race’s capital, but each is certain to make a big impact upon the game.

Like Count Vlad von Carstein ( Hidden Kingdoms , 28), these powerful legends all add new dimensions to their factions’ potential strategies. While many of the units and supports in Hidden Kingdoms directly build upon the factions’ traditional mechanics, lending strength and versatility to keywords like Savage and Necromancy, these new legends all take their factions’ strengths and add a new wrinkle. Count Vlad von Carstein ensures that your discard pile isn’t just a temporary resting place for your Necromancy units; he converts it into your stronghold. If everything is dead, the Undead win!

Tributes and Treaties

The main thrust of the Hidden Kingdoms deluxe expansion may come from its four new playable factions, but there’s plenty more to excite fans of the game’s other races. You’ll find new units, tactics, and Tributes for the Empire, Dwarfs, High Elves, Chaos, Orcs, and Dark Elves. These cards further distinguish the races’ personalities, such as the Empire’s mobility and the Dark Elves’ bloodlust. Meanwhile, Tributes targeting each of these six races allow you to forge temporary treaties, ignoring the loyalty cost of the next card you play out of faction.

No One Is Truly Neutral

In a world of eternal war, no race can remain forever neutral, and Hidden Kingdoms finally gives you the chance to launch four of your favorite Warhammer races into the ferocious, fast-paced battles of Warhammer: Invasion The Card Game as fully developed factions.

Get ready for battle. Hidden Kingdoms is scheduled to release late in the third quarter of 2013!