World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - A Pandemic System Board Game uses familiar gameplay mechanics but applies them in a new setting. Instead of disease tokens, ghouls occupy spaces, which can overrun (previously called an outbreak) when they have four ghouls.

Heroes from the Warcraft universe – Varian Wrynn, TirionFordring, Thrall, SylvanasWindrunner, JainaProudmoore, and Lady Liadrin – join the struggle against undead threats. Their characters have different abilities, which make for a variety of hero combinations.

Gameplay

Gameplay in Wrath of the Lich King is like spinning plates, as players work to complete quests while simultaneously trying to prevent the Scourge from taking over sectors on the board. All of this is done while keeping a close eye on the Hero’s health, as each action that they take may provoke Ghouls or Abominations (or even the Lich King himself!) into damaging them.

The miniatures in this game are all very well-done, evocative of their World of Warcraft counterparts. In addition, the game uses a few fresh mechanics to add depth and spice to the Pandemic System base gameplay, such as quests and dice-based combat.

The Lich King himself is a menacing figure, standing tall with his iconic blade and clenched fist. He exudes the sense of utter doom that many players know so well from his role in the Warcraft franchise.

Rules

The gameplay of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - A Pandemic System Game feels like a natural evolution of previous iterations. The ebb and flow of the progressing game state that is so important to this series is front and centre here as you struggle to keep the spread of disease under control.

The miniatures are well done and evocative of their counterparts in the Warcraft universe. They're a good size and fit comfortably into the custom cut compartments of the Feldherr foam sets. The ghouls and abominations look especially striking, as does the Icecrown Citadel model which stands tall and menacing with its iconic sword and shield. The Lich King himself has a cocksure, menacing presence and he's represented as such on the board by a fist symbol that moves up a space after each time a Hero performs a fight action or Quest Action.

Scourge Deck

The original Pandemic system remains intact here, but the rest is replaced by hordes of ghouls and abominations running through the continent of Northrend. Gone are the coloured player cards that you had to collect in sets and turn in to cure diseases – replaced with Hero cards that allow you to add power to fight actions, block incoming assaults, take rides to far off spaces, and more.Individuals with expectations to know about wotlk classic gold and other details can feel free to check here.

A new mechanic, Epidemics (similar to outbreaks in the original Pandemic), spawns bigger undead creatures that move up the Despair track until the Heroes are overrun. And then there is the Lich King himself – a colossal figure that conveys the sense of menace that the game so perfectly captures. He stands cocksure, iconic blade in hand, his arm raised in an almost-deathlike salute.

Abominations

The small ghouls spawned in Pandemic games are replaced here by larger, more menacing Abominations that spawn on the board as Epidemic cards. These larger undead monsters move around the map like landmines, dealing damage to heroes if they touch them.

If the Abomination deals enough damage to a hero, it moves closer to them and attacks. If a hero plays a Defend card, it blocks the Abomination’s attack.

The Abomination figures are awesome, and look like they came straight out of the video game. They also add a new feel to the game, replacing the outbreak (or overrun) mechanic in Pandemic that can cause tension and frustration for players.

Heroes

The Heroes in the game represent iconic characters from Blizzard’s iconic world including TirionFordring, Thrall, JainaProudmoore, Lady Liadrin, Varian Wrynn and SylvanasWindrunner. Each hero has two Special Abilities that might help in either fighting or questing and can be used once per turn.

Fighting and questing take place on the board using a combination of dice rolls and card draw. The abominations move around the board attacking the heroes, and when they hit a Hero they deal damage.

The eponymous Lich King also travels around the board making fights and questing harder. He is a menacing figure, his fists clenched, ready to strike. His menace is embodied in this figure, which stands on the edge of Icecrown Citadel. With deliberation and purpose he steps forward, his iconic sword in hand.