Cult card game Warlord: Saga of the Storms plans a grand comeback of the “game you already know how to play”

Warlord: Saga of the Storm is emerging from the mists of memory with a new edition called Into the Accordlands. The collectible card game is launching a Kickstarter campaign next month with new publisher Kingswood Games at the helm, dedicated to perfecting and mastering the most beloved parts of the older titles.

Warlord: Saga of the Storm, originally designed by Oliver Schaaf and Dave Williams, is a competitive CCG that was originally marketed as “the game you already know how to play” due to its D20-based action resolution system that intentionally had overtones of Dungeons & Dragons and other tabletop RPGs with a similar emphasis on combat. Players would add or remove their relevant modifiers depending on the situation and then simply do or not do the desired action, whether that be eliminating an enemy troop or defending against a blow.

Warlord’s biggest innovation was card deployment. Rather than designing a full-blown resource system, the creators opted for something called Rank & File: a character’s level and placement on the table determines what equipment they can use, as well as what (class-specific) actions they can perform. Additionally, a formation’s overall rank determines whether or not a new character can be added to it. It sounds a bit complicated at first glance, but it was designed to mimic the popular RPG, and its 20-minute rounds could fit before or after a tabletop session.

Alderac Entertainment Group initially released Warlord in 2001 and managed the game until its cancellation in 2008. The license was then taken over by Phoenix Interactive, who released the fourth edition that same year. There have been no official products (aside from a 20th anniversary reprint) since 2012, but now AEG has partnered with Kingswood Games to design and produce Into the Accordlands, a brand-new edition that hits Kickstarter on May 7.

The Kickstarter campaign will attempt to fund a new starter box containing a deck for each of the fantasy setting’s six ruling factions, all of which will be ready to be released immediately. Kingswood Games promises in a press release that longtime and returning players will “rediscover the game they love,” now with refined mechanics, more world-building work, and a general streamlining for accessibility.

Expansions are already on the horizon that will reintroduce the original Warlord card set with new art and improved frames from illustrators including Jason Engle, Jeff Menges, Chris Seaman, and Steve Ellis. The designers specifically mentioned Overlords, Dragon Lords, Medusan Lords, and the Box of Avarice as targets for future releases. Kingswood Games appears to have been created primarily to remaster and re-release Warlord, and is apparently staffed by former players and veteran designers. More information can be found on the new Warlord website.