Returning to the Mirrored City

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Warhammer Underworlds (WU) was first released back in the autumn of 2017. Since then, the game has progressed through nine seasons to reach the Deathgorge. At the time of writing, there are over 50 legal WU warbands, but it is very difficult to get hold of the cards for warbands from the earlier seasons. As WU is a competitive game with a design space to be played in tournaments, it can be challenging for newer players to practice against older warbands. Without practise against warbands, this can be disadvantageous in tournaments. 

Back in 2023, GW released their second WU Starter set, which contained the Farstriders and the Sepulchral Guard (the first, released in 2019, contained the Storm of Celestus and the Wraithcreepers). Both of these warbands had been part of Shadespire, the original season of WU. Importantly, the starter box, along with the re-release of the miniatures, also provided updated Rivals decks for these two warbands. In my opinion, this was an excellent move and allowed both existing and new players to access these great warbands.

Today, the news that Rivals of the Mirrored City is due for release has been revealed. I am truly excited about this. The box will contain the miniatures and cards for four older warbands, each with their own playstyles. The warbands are: Mollog's Mob, Thorns of the Briar Queen, Skritch's Swarm, and Zarbag's Gitz. I am really looking forwards to trying the new Rivals decks for some of these old warbands, especially the Thorns of the Briar Queen. 

Why am I so excited by this release?

When the Farstriders and the Sepulchral Guard were revamped with new cards, I saw this as an easy way for Games Workshop (GW) to create a starter set for WU without a big investment of cash on their end. Making new plastic molds is very expensive. For the community at large, they received new Rivals decks, bringing these old warbands into the modern game.  However, the revamp of four more warbands appears to show that maybe all of the older warbands will be getting a new Rivals deck within the next couple of years. There are a few warbands I am really hoping to see again, namely Ylthari's Guardians and, to a lesser extent, Magore's Fiends. I would love to play Ylthari's again, but in their present iteration, their deck and inspire conditions mean they are not competitive. Inspiring by healing, when there are few heal cards makes things difficult and the some of their objectives are basically impossible to score [Glades Pride].

I think there are lots of players out in the community that have an old fan-favourite warband that either no longer works or never really did. I can think of the Chosen Axes and the Wurmspat, to name a few. Maybe this release suggests that these warbands will get their day in the near future. It also means that if you stick with only one faction, e.g the Nighthaunt, revamping older warbands gives you access to an increased range of warbands to use, rather than just the latest release.

What does this release suggest for the future of WU?

The fact that GW is investing in rules for older miniatures is almost a unique occurrence for the company. GW has already released miniatures and rules and has rarely gone back to items once they were released, especially when they were released years ago. To me, this suggests the game is in a very strong position with plenty of investment from the community. A strong enough position that GW can see it getting a return for its investment. WU is an excellent game; in my opinion, the best game GW has ever produced. It has a great ruleset, excellent miniatures, and multiple games can be played in a session. In addition, it is produced with the idea of competitive gaming  and tournaments in mind. I also think this is the game that younger wargamers grow into when time becomes limited by real life; I have certainly found this to be the case.

Reinventing a warband from a couple of years ago allows both new and old players a fresh experience and a chance to use an old favourite. It costs GW less money, as they do not need to keep tooling new molds. It maintains a 'good' release pace, but as we already have some of these miniatures, I do not feel pressured to keep up with the painting. As warband releases no longer have a universal pool of cards attached, I can just buy the miniatures (or in this case, the Rivals decks) I want. Finally, as already mentioned, I get to play my old favorite warbands and learn to play against them. This revamping of old warbands has solved the question of whether warbands should be rotated out of circulation. The simple answer is no, but Rivals decks should.

If ever there was a time to get into or back into WU, the time is now.

Please leave any thoughts below, and bye for now.