Warhammer Combat Cards: I played this game a lot in the past few weeks, despite having a relatively low rating on Google Play. This is because I really love the lore of the Warhammer 40K universe and when I saw this game, I fell in love with it due to its simplicity.
What is Warhammer Combat Cards?
Warhammer Combat Cards is a collectible card game (CCG) that involves around combat and tactics. There are three types of attack: Melee, Ranged and Psychic. Each card has one or more types of attacks and the more the cards are upgraded, certain abilities come out into play, such as Melee Attack, Ranged Attack, Taunt, Shield and Heal, among others.
Normal matchmaking matches you with decks of real players that are played by AI. An ideal game would make players play against each other live; however, due to the lack of players, the developers decided to take off live matchmaking for now and focus on growing the game.
Each card requires a certain level in order to be unlocked; however, if one is an active player, one can get higher-level cards even at the lower stages of the game. As expected, cards are sorted according to their quality and rarity. Cards such as Celestine have very good stats, with the stat line degrading as the quality of the card degrades.
There are five ways to get new cards in the game. First, a Free Pack opens up every eight hours, giving you resources and cards. Second, a Kill Pack also gets unlocked at the same rate, but in order to get its contents, you need to destroy ten cards in the game, whether you win or lose.
A third way in order to get cards is through participating in five-day global events with other players, where players try to compose the best decks in order to wade through endless waves of pre-set AI decks (one win being ten points). Each player is limited to four charges, with each charge filling up after two hours. The player who gets the most points gets the best rewards, with diminishing rewards as one goes down the rankings. Players are given two days to prepare their decks for the event and put their names on the leaderboard.
Meanwhile, victory packs that are won at the end of each victory in normal matchmaking are also a very good way to get new cards. The last method of obtaining new cards is through the in-game store.
Gold (the primary currency used for card upgrades) and Plasma (the soft currency used to speed up victory packs and buy booster packs from the store) are the two main resources in the game. Opening the free and kill packs are the two ways to gather gold and plasma in the game, apart from getting them in the in-game store.
What is a typical Warhammer Combat Cards experience?
You do face diverse decks, ranging from the metal Necrons to the forces of Chaos. You win some, you lose some – but that’s part of the game.
Well, they do match you with decks that are way above your level, so you should find ways to upgrade your cards and find tactics to break through their deck; after all, these decks are operated by AI.
However, if you ask about the strongest decks in the game right now – surprise, surprise – you are in for a crazy revelation. Tau (due to their ridiculous long-range attacks and cheap screens) and Tyranid Hybrid (thanks to their rage-inducing melee attacks, wound-fishing techniques and TANKY screens) decks are among the most abused factions in the game, as well as well-leveled Psychic Space Marine decks supported by Dreadnoughts and Servants of the Emperor.
What are the issues plaguing Warhammer Combat Cards?
For one, there is a ton of bugs in the game. At a certain point, players’ progress simply disappeared from the servers and it took a couple of days before the developers of the game were able to fix it.
In addition, tons of connection issues ensure that I lost games where I should have won. This ranges from sudden freezes in the middle of doing an attack to outright being unable to do anything – forcing me to press the surrender button at the top of the screen.
Needless to say, it is infuriating, but at least it is saved by the fact that it is a decent W40K game.
Why should you play Warhammer Combat Cards?
It is a game that is simple to understand and yet challenging to play. It is a game that does not require you to pay anything, except your time and effort. It is a well-made Warhammer game that will soon contain lots of lore (thanks to the card flip option that is being developed).
It is also a game that is slowly, but surely growing.
Finally, it is a Warhammer game, endorsed by no other than Games Workshop – and the pictures on the cards are from actual minis!
Hope you enjoyed reading this bird’s eye view!
About the Author
Earl Carlo Guevarra, 27 and a proud Zamboangueño, is a teacher of English based in the heart of Manila. When he’s not teaching children the fundamentals of grammar, he writes essays and poems, many of which have been published locally and internationally. He also loves fruit shakes and video games.
