The Kraken Stirs

“A lion may be fierce enough on land, but at sea the kraken rules supreme.” – Victarion Greyjoy

Bannermen! Soon the full might of House Greyjoy will arrive along the shores of Westeros, ushering with them a horde of ruthless raiders and cunning captains all eager to claim the crown for themselves!

In today’s article we will take our first look at House Greyjoy and their general themes, as they prepareto soon join A Song of Ice and Fire: Tabletop Miniature Game!

The Iron Price

“No man gives me a crown. I pay the iron price. I will take my crown.” – Balon Greyjoy

House Greyjoy brings themes explosive aggression to the tabletop. When fielding a Greyjoy army, players can expect themes of raw combat potential… Assuming you keep up the offense! While devastating if they get in the first strikes and keep their battlefield momentum going, if Greyjoys begin to fall behind in the killing game their strategies will begin to crumble-Hitting hard, before your opponent has a chance to react, is a key strategy for the Greyjoys.

Pillage and Plunder

“There is no wine so sweet as wine taken from a foe.” – Victarion Greyjoy

To represent their drive for raw power, House Greyjoy implements a unique mechanic across many of their units and Tactics Cards known as Pillage. When they begin to destroy their foes, units will gain Pillage Tokens. These tokens are used across each unit to gain powerful and unique benefits, ranging from additional modifiers to Hit, enhanced defense, or supplementing unique Abilities. Of course, these tokens are only won via destruction of enemy ranks (or, in rare cases, clever use of Tactics Cards), so being passive is not an option for the followers of the Kraken!

What is Dead May Never Die

“No man has ever died from bending his knee. He who kneels may rise again, blade in hand.” – Balon Greyjoy

Another central theme to House Greyjoy is restoration. While lacking in both Defense as well as Morale (at least compared to the more stalwart and“knightly” houses of Westeros) the Greyjoys bring a fierce grit and lust for wealth and spoils to the battlefield. It is through this that they also bring a plethora of restoration capabilities to the fight. Of course, being the raiders they are, these mechanics are also directly tied to their offense-but this means that, should your plans falter and your units begin to crumble, you’ll have access to several options to bring their numbers back into the fight, returning their offensive potential!

That is all for today. Over the course of the next few weeks, we will be covering different aspect of gameplay for House Greyjoy. Future pirates, we recommend you stay tuned to begin building your armada. Non-Greyjoy players may want to pay attention to see what they’re up against in the coming months. You know what they say: keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.