Set in the world of Glorantha, RuneQuest: Warlords is an upcoming turn-based strategy game based on the classic RPG RuneQuest, developed by Viruos and published by Slytherin. The game features three factions that evolve into three distinct playstyles: the Children of the Storm, the Empire of the Moon, and the Chaos.

RuneQuest: Warlords features an 18-mission story campaign that takes players through a mythical landscape and intense conflicts between the three factions. The combat mechanics are easy to learn, but difficult to master in this type of game. The four missions I played had a wide range of objectives, from defending positions and NPCs to destroying a certain number of enemy units and capturing a specific location.

The preview version only has four missions, and you can only play as the Children of the Storm faction, which is fast, agile, and aggressive. Starting with the second mission, one of the heroes joining your companions is from the Lunar Empire faction, but this doesn’t really affect the synergy between the various troops in your army.

From what I’ve played, RuneQuest’s Heroes: War Heroes are very strong, and if you want to soften up a strong enemy unit, you should be the first to attack. Unlike regular soldiers, who only have one hit point, they have two action points, so they can only attack once.

The main character’s “Children of the Storm” is a terrifyingly powerful attack that can completely destroy an entire army in one turn. From the first four missions, it seems that the heroes are the driving force of your army, while the remaining soldiers are here to feed, deceive, and take over the rest.

The army management aspect of the game is very simple, especially if you’ve played other games published or developed by Slitherine, such as Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector or Panzer Corps 2. You start with one hero and a few soldiers. If they survive a few battles, they become veterans and receive nice bonuses such as more HP or damage.

However, the biggest boost to these important stats is your hero’s skill tree. So, as your hero levels up, you can spend “glory tokens” to unlock various abilities. Some of these abilities improve certain types of troops that are part of your army (HP, damage, etc.), while others make your hero stronger or allow them to use spells or unique powers.

Each troop has a value expressed in points. While you can recruit more troops, if you exceed the maximum number of points, they will be put into reserve. This means that you can only take a certain number of troops with you on each mission, which adds an extra layer of strategy to the game.

Some missions require you to be more mobile, so you need faster troops, while others focus more on defending points of interest, which means you need fewer but more durable units.

This isn’t something that’s been done before, but what’s most interesting is that it feels exactly like the franchise, starting with the first four missions I played. Also, for those familiar with the publisher’s Slytherin titles, RuneQuest: Warlords looks pretty good, as it uses the same engine as Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector.

Conclusion

After spending dozens of hours in Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector, I can see myself sinking a few hours into RuneQuest: Warlords. The two games are very similar in terms of gameplay mechanics, so if you’re a fan of the formula, there’s no way you won’t like RuneQuest: Warlords.
Overall, RuneQuest: Warlords seems like a great addition to the Slytherin strategy game catalog. I doubt we’ll get a good story either, but I’m sure it’ll be great in terms of gameplay.

Preview key from the publisher.