Warhammer Underworlds: Online brings the board game to PC
Getting the band back together.
If there are two now-universal constants in PC games, it's Warhammer and board game adaptations, and Warhammer Underworlds: Online is both. Based on the well-regarded Warhammer Underworlds board game and developed by Steel Sky Productions. It's a two-player (plus AI, for the PC version) squad tactics game set in a haunted undercity, with a bit of deck-building and a lot of dice-rolling. The digital version debuts in early access some time this year, and looks to offer similar contents to the basic boxed edition, with an initial two warbands and more due later both free and paid. Below, a foggy and short teaser trailer.
From what I've seen of it, Underworlds isn't a hugely complex game, or an expensive one to play unless you plan on collecting alternative warbands. Still, it's always nice to see a digital adaptation, as finding people to actually play a game with you at the tabletop requires both having a table of sufficient size, and not living in the arse-end of nowhere. Rather than build up armies as in classic tabletop Warhammer, Underworlds puts players in control of a small handful of troops. Warbands are static, but you define your style by building a deck of objective, upgrade and ability cards.
The initial early access launch will have two warbands, and add another two by the time the game launches. From there on, extra warbands will be sold separately, as they are for the board game version, but Steel Sky have said they'll be releasing card expansions free over time. They're shooting for the game to be "fully functional but feature light" when it enters early access, and for there to only be "a few months" of testing needed before the final release. They've not set any dates though, which seems reasonable. There are also map segment expansions available for the board game, but there's no mention on whether those will be included, free updates or DLC.
There's no release date for Warhammer Underworlds: Online, but Steel Sky are aiming to enter early access this year. You can find the game on Steam, or its official page here, and the original board game here.