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Dark Millennium (game system)

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Targetdrone.gif This article is about the collectible card game; for the expansion for the 2nd Edition of Warhammer 40,000, see Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium (Box Set).
Dark Millennium
Dark Millennium Imperial box.jpg
Designer Seth Morrigan
Manufacturer Sabertooth Games / Games Workshop
Released 2005
Players 2
Game time Approx 30 min
Preceded by Horus Heresy

Dark Millennium is a collectible card game from Sabertooth Games launched in 2005 which succeed the Horus Heresy collectible card game. It is now defunct, along with Sabertooth Games, and is no longer supported.[1]


Storyline

Events have conspired to draw members of different races and factions into a remote area of space. Each group has its own set of goals, but they all include eradication of any who would stand in opposition. Drawn to the resource-rich regions of the Pyrus sector are:

Gameplay overview

Dark Millennium uses the same basic rules as Horus Heresy.

A game in the Dark Millennium universe pits two commanders and their respective armadas against each other for control of an important planet within the Pyrus sector. One side is declared the attacker, while the other is the defender, but both fight for control of three sectors which are deemed key to winning the planet. The game continues until a player captures two sectors, or four complete turns have elapsed. In the case of neither player dominating the planet after four turns, whoever has won control of a sector (or the more valuable sector if each player has one) wins the game.

Each full turn starts with the deployment phase. In this phase, players deploy one card from their decks face up to each and every unclaimed sector. Players then draw a hand of six cards and alternate deploying cards face down from their hand to any unclaimed sector, one a time. There is no limit to how many cards may be deployed to each sector, but a relative imbalance may lead to an advantage in one sector with a corresponding disadvantage in another sector. Following deployment, the attacking player chooses a sector to contest, and a battle for that sector commences. Once the battle ends, the result may be that one of the two players has claimed the sector, or that neither player has, but once a sector is captured, it is out of play. After the battle selected by the attacker, the defending player chooses a different sector to contest (if any other sector remains unclaimed). Following the conclusion of the two battles, the turn ends and a new turn begins with the deployment phase being repeated.

Factions and decks

A play deck (made up of units, assets, and ships) must contain at least 60 cards, and may not contain more than four of any one card (except where a specific card notes otherwise). Each player must choose a side or faction when creating a deck, and this restricts the deck to only unaligned cards and cards from that specific faction. A given game may involve two competing decks from any of the factions; there are no additional restrictions on the participants.

Card roles

Each non-sector card in the Dark Millennium game system can serve in three separate and distinct roles. These uses are as follows:

  • Normal - Functioning as the actual unit, asset or ship printed on the face of the card. Cards deployed to sectors operate in this standard fashion.
  • Die - Used as a pseudo-random number generator, to check the success or failure of some action. When a result needs to be determined, the top card of that player's deck is flipped over (into the discard pile), revealing the die printed on the card.
  • Command - Kept in the player's hand during a battle and played as needed for strategic purposes. In this role, the card is turned upside down and only the inverted text at the bottom is used; the remaining portion of the card serves no purpose.

Because of this unique multi-purpose system, every card placed into a deck must be considered for each of its uses. A powerful unit may have a very poor die role, while a mediocre asset with an excellent command line ability may be worth keeping in a deck on the chance that it is drawn into the hand when initiating a battle. [edit] Product compatibility

The cards from the previous Horus Heresy collectible card game (which was also produced by Sabertooth Games) are usable with Dark Millennium, although the Horus Heresy cards only represent two of the factions within Dark Millennium. Players playing Chaos decks or Imperial decks can freely use Traitor and Loyalist cards in their decks, respectively.

Cards from Dark Millennium may not be used in games of Horus Heresy. [edit] Dark Millennium products

Sabertooth Games previously indicated that they intended to release roughly four expansion sets for Dark Millennium per year, in an effort to keep the game universe fresh. While this schedule was met in 2006, the product was scheduled for retirement in 2007, with the final expansion set released in April of that year.

Sets

  • Dark Millennium (released October 2005), 228 cards
  • Dawn of War (videogame tie-in, released November 2005), 120 cards
  • Hope's Twilight (released January 2006), 120 cards
  • Fires of Pyrus (released April 2006), 120 cards
  • Rising Darkness (released July 2006), 120 cards
  • Damnation's Gate (released October 2006), 228 cards
  • Shadows of the Warp (released January 2007), 120 cards
  • Prophecy's Peril (released April 2007), 120 cards

See Also

Sources