Designer: Ignacy Trzewiczek (51st State: Master Set, Detective: A Modern Board Game, Imperial Settlers, Pret-a-Porter, Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island, Stronghold, Stronghold 2nd Edition)

Artist: Tomasz Jedruszek (Battles of Westeros, Britannia, Citadels, Condottiere, Dominion, Dominion Second Edition, Dominion: Intrigue, Fields of Green, A Game of Thrones: The Board Game Second Edition, A Game of Thrones: The Card Game, Imperial Settlers, Magic: The Gathering, Middle-Earth Quest, Neuroshima Hex! 3.0, Pret-a-Porter, Shadows of Brimstone: City of the Ancients, Shadows of Brimstone: Swamps of Death, Stronghold, Stronghold 2nd Edition, Tides of Time)

Publisher: Portal Games (51st State: Master Set, Aeon’s End, Aeon’s End: War Eternal, Among the Stars, Architects of the West Kingdom, The Big Book of Madness, Blood Rage, Cry Havoc, Decrypto, Detective: A Modern Board Game, Diamant, Downforce, Ethnos, Ex Libris, For Sale, FUSE, Gizmos, The Godfather: Corleone’s Empire, Heroes of Normandie, Imperial Settlers, Inis, Istanbul, Istanbul: The Dice Game, Kanagawa, Legacy: The Testament of Duke de Crecy, Neuroshima Hex! 3.0, The Others, Paladins of the West Kingdom, Photosynthesis, Pret-a-Porter, The Resistance, The Resistance: Avalon, Rising Sun, Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island, Roll for the Galaxy, Root, Sentient, Stronghold, Stronghold 2nd Edition, Tajemnicze Domostwo, Tales & Games: The Hare & the Tortoise, Teotihuacan: City of Gods, Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization, Tides of Time, Underwater Cities, Welcome to the Dungeon, World’s Fair 1893, Zombicide: Black Plague, Zombicide: Green Horde)

Genre/Mechanisms: 2 players, action points, area majority/influence, fighting, point to point movement, tower defense, variable player powers

Funding Status: At the time of this posting, Stronghold: Undead is already fully-funded. In fact, pledges currently total more than 3x the initial funding goal with 3 days to go on the campaign.

Player Count: 2

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: heavy

Risk: medium-low

What It’s About:  A second edition of Stronghold’s Undead expansion as a standalone game, Stronghold: Undead is an epic battle of tower defense between two players.

How It Works:  Stronghold: Undead is played over a maximum of 8 Rounds. If the Defender can hold back the invading forces until the end of the 8th Round, the Defender wins. If the Invader Breaches the Stronghold before the end of the 8th Round, the Invader wins. Breaching the Stronghold means the Invader kills all of the Defender’s units on a wall section and can still deal further damage. Rounds are comprised of 4 Phases: Supplies, Preparations, Assault, and Cleanup.

The Supplies Phase consists of 6 Steps: Gather Resources, Mana Cards, Altar of Death, Necromancer’s Library, Councils’ Deliberations, and Defender’s Time. During Gather Resources, the Invader gains (or in later rounds, spends) the number of Mana Crystals shown beneath the Round Marker. They may choose to spend some, all, or none of the Mana. The Defender gains 2 Hourglasses, plus 1 for every Mana the Invader must spend but chooses not to. During Mana Cards, the Invader may choose to draw a single card from the Mana deck; Mana cards provide 1-3 Mana, but may also give the Defender additional Hourglasses. During Altar of Death, the Invader may spend any number of Units for Mana, gaining 1 for every 2 spent. During Necromancer’s Library, the Invader decides which Spell Tome cards to remove from the game, replacing them with cards from the Necromancer’s Library, and may then exchange cards between the two. If the Necromancer’s Library is activated, the Defender gains 1 Hourglass. During Council’s Deliberations (only used if playing with the Highest Power expansion), the Defender rolls the Councilman’s die and gains the number of Council Markers shown, and then must choose to allocate them between the six Council cards in front of them. During Defender’s Time, the Defender spends all gained Hourglasses.

The Preparations Phase consists of 4 Steps: Casting Spells, Activations, Grounds, and Maneuvers. During Casting Spells, the Invader may Cast or skip each spell from the Spell Tome in order from left to right, paying the cost of each used, and turning each card used to indicate it has been cast. The Defender receives Hourglasses for each Mana spent. During Activations, the Invader may trigger any tiles. During Grounds, the Invader resolves effects for activated Marshes and Graveyards. During Maneuvers, the Invader takes 14 random units from the bag and places them on the Camp card. A Minor Maneuver allows the Invader to move up to 6 Units from each Rampart, 6 Units from each Foreground, and up to 6 Units from the Camp card to EACH Foreground; and awards the Defender 3 Hourglasses. A Major Maneuver allows for the same movement for up to 8 Units in each step, and awards the Defender 5 Hourglasses. After the Invader finishes their movement, the Defender must spend all Hourglasses.

The Assault Phase involves Steps for Range Combat (Cannons and Crossbows, Spectral Ballistae and Bone Throwers, Marksmen’s Volley, and Strigoi Lairs), for Melee (Priests’ Phantom Banish, Consecrated Grounds, Skeletons’ Cauldrons, Stakes, Resolving Strength, and The Hospital), and Dark Presence (Destroying the Gates, and Panic in the Stronghold). There’s probably no need to list the details of each Step for each type of unit, but think of it simply as an order of operations for the many different types of combat units and attacks.

Once those Steps have all been completed, The Cleanup Phase occurs. Players Advance the Round Marker and remove all tokens with a white border. The Invader rotates their Spell Cards back and discards all Green Activation Tiles from the board back to the supply. The Defender discards all spent Hourglasses from resolved actions back the supply, as well as all Council Markers that were placed on the board. If the Saint token was used, it returns to the Saint action space. And then another Round begins, until the Invader either Breaches the Stronghold, or the Defender makes it to the end of the 8th Round having successfully held back the invading forces.

Comparisons:   While this is technically a worker placement game, it seems better to focus on the 2 player aspect as well as the tower defense genre. Some 2 player, head-to-head games include Claustrophobia from Monolith Games, as well as Uwe Rosenberg’s line of 2-player games: Patchwork, Agricola: All Creatures Great and Small, Caverna: Cave vs Cave, and Le Havre: The Inland Port. Of course, apt comparisons should also be made to the original Stronghold and its Stronghold: Undead expansion. And as for other tower defense games, some popular ones include Carnival Zombie, Castle Panic, Cloudspire, Dawn of the Zeds, Star Trek: Panic, and Village Attacks.

What Should I Pledge?:
$65 Stronghold: Undead: a copy of the new 2nd Edition of Stronghold: Undead, the digital pack, all unlocked stretch goals, and access to the Pledge Manager.
$75 Stronghold: Undead Deluxe: everything in the previous pledge level, plus the heat transferred Invader and Defender meeples.

Add-Ons:
$30 Large Playmat
$18 Stronghold 2nd Edition Invader meeples: this is an upgrade pack for the 2nd Edition of Stronghold (not for Stronghold: Undead) with meeples similar to those provided in the Stronghold: Undead Deluxe pledge.
$5 12 Courage Cards
Part of Portal Games catalog will also be available as add-ons via the Pledge Manager.

KS Exclusives:
Many of the stretch goals unlocked in the campaign are KS Exclusives: the Priest Meeples, 2 player plastic insert, Phantom Dragon expansion, double-sided UV printed board, custom wooden round markers, and the Council’s Deliberations expansion.

All-In Total: In the continental U.S., you’re looking at $75 for the Stronghold: Undead Deluxe pledge, $30 for the Large Playmat, $5 for the Courage Cards, plus $20 in shipping for a total of $130.

Stronghold: Undead completes its Kickstarter on Monday, November 25th and tentatively ships in August 2020.