Game Spotlight - Cry Havoc
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Deep in a quadrant of space believed to be empty, a virgin, unexplored planet has been discovered by three unique, powerful species. The resources of the planet are abundant beyond belief, but are protected vigorously by the indigenous species, known as the Trogs. The riches of the planet will be won, inch by inch, with blood.
Cry Havoc is an asymmetric, card-driven area control game for 2-4 players. Each player controls one of the four unique races and fights viciously to gather the most Crystals on the planet, which will more than offset the costs of the conflict. To do this, players must customize their decks of cards, Build powerful Structures, and leverage their unique Skills to gain victory. Each faction has their own special abilities they can use to accomplish their goals.
The Humans are a resourceful and flexible invading Faction. Their Skills allow them to quickly expand Control without actually moving Units into the Regions, and their Structures allow them to defend their Regions without devoting a large number of Units to the cause. The Humans can frequently score for their Regions, allowing them to move about nomadically and respond to threats dynamically.
With powerful technology and a research focus, the Pilgrims act reclusively to profit from the planet’s resources. Whereas other races must maintain Control of a Region to score its Crystals, the Pilgrims are able to extract the Crystals, then use them to score Victory Points or activate powerful Skills. They may then withdraw to gather strength, only to teleport into hostile Regions when their power is maximized once again.
Slow, methodical, unstoppable. This describes the unrelenting drive of the Machines. Highly focused on building aggressive offensive and defensive Structures, the Machines slowly turn the planet into their fortress. Unlike all other Factions, the Machines can move Structures between Regions and quickly convert Units to Structures, and vice versa, to optimize their tools and weaponry for every situation.
The Trogs are the brutal, primitive, tribal species indigenous to the planet. They lack advanced technology, which they make up for with intimate knowledge of the planet and brute force. A successful Trog player must carefully manage their Reserves. Trogs can use their Skills to remove Units from Regions in order to place, move, and resolve Trog Nest tokens. In doing so, Trogs are able to ambush the invading species at the time and place of their choosing, which makes up for their lack of powerful Structures.
The indigenous Trogs play a special role in Cry Havoc. In 2- and 3-player games, the Trogs are not controlled by a player, but they act as a deterrent to the invaders’ aggression. In 4-player games, however, a player can assume control of the Trog hordes to halt the hostile take-over of their planet.
Each round, players take turns using cards from their personal decks to move their units, attack or defend from enemy forces, take control of regions of the board, and collect crystals for more victory points. Players can also take advantage of the unique terrain in their area by drawing from the Terrain Tactics deck to give themselves a wider range of options in battle.
When a player moves their units onto a space already occupied by enemy units, or with a Trog War Party or Trog Nest token, battle breaks out between the opposing forces. Players can then use the battle to their advantage, by attempting to gain control of the region, take enemy forces prisoner, or simply kill enemy units outright.
After battles are resolved, players gain victory points for the regions they control and the crystals contained within. The player with the most victory points after the final round has been resolved wins the game!
