With the start of the Judgement North American Championship, the Elves vs Undead narrative campaign and some of the best sculpts to hit the market, in any scale, there has never been a better time to get into Judgement.
With so much going on in Judgement land, we thought it was time to lay down a marker and publish the roadmap between now and Adepticon 2020. The incredible growth in the game has provided some stability financially and affords us the luxury of planning things out a little better than we have previously. So, without further ado, here are our plans for the next 8 months!
We are re-releasing the 5v5 Cobblestone neoprene with fixed terrain. The original 5v5 Cobblestone was the first map we produced, and while it included our ground-breaking pre-marked scenarios, it was before we had locked in pre-set terrain. The considerable success of Scorched Earth has inspired us to go back and redo the cobblestone version, and we are super excited to get it out there.
November is an exciting time for the game with the release of two new sculpts. Fazeal and Dor'gokaan will be available for purchase at Wafaire Weekend.
Publishing Fazeal's sculpt a few months ago generated unprecedented hype. So, we cannot wait to get him into the hands of our players. Fazeal is the first of our undead heroes, a race that introduced a host of unique racial traits, and he is our 3rd mounted model. The death knight is sure to become iconic in future years.
The maturity of the game provides a fantastic platform for the game's designers to push the boundaries with the monster class. Dor'gokaan is the result of this. Not only is he jam-packed full of special rules, but he also hits like a truck and increases his power for each Soul bound to his target. Dor'gokaan is also the first monster that can be summoned by Warlocks, so the big guy adds considerable strength to the sinister halfling Viktor.
The launch of the Judgement North American Championship is a significant milestone in our plan for the game we established from day 1. We make no secret of the fact that Judgement is built from the ground up for competitive play. Therefore, we are very excited about setting a platform to build a tournament circuit from that will grow exponentially over the next few years. While the 2019 JNAC is an open tournament, for 2020 and beyond it will be a 32 player invitational. We will be publishing full details on how tournament organisers can run 2020 qualifiers and how players can gain entry very soon.
As big as 2019 was for the game, 2020 is set to be even bigger. The year that Judgement makes its mark in North America.
The first patch of the year will be an opportunity to introduce any major corrections we feel the game may need. By this patch, we will also have a lot of data on win/loss and pick/ban records for all the heroes which will give us an informed view on the state of the game.
While the competitive play of Judgement is front and centre for us, we love storytelling and have spent a lot of time fleshing out the origins of the Judgement universe. Our passion for the back story of the game come to fruition via our first narrative campaign. The Elves vs Undead campaign is set in the future world of Athien where Nephenee and Skye reside. A rivalry that was introduced in the Lich Dance origins stories is advanced and brought to life in this campaign. More information about the campaign will be released soon.
Another milestone release as we introduce hero units with the mischevious duo. Bale & Sarna promise to provide a considerable meta shakeup with a plethora of cool abilities and a very high skill ceiling. North America's best competitive players will be uncovering dangerous synergies for a long time with these two.
Ever since we published the Lich Dance origins stories, we have received questions about the mysterious Zhim'gigrak that Styx refers to in the narrative. Well, we are pleased to announce that we are going to bring him to life on the tabletop as he is one of the main protagonists in our narrative campaign. The rules for Zhim'gigrak are already under play-test, and we are excited to announce that Helge C Balzer has been commissioned to create his illustration.
The April patch will be aimed towards setting the game up for the tournament season, kicking off immediately after its release with a JNAC auto-qualifier at Adepticon.
We will be running a JNAC auto-qualifier at Adepticon 2020. The tournament will be a 5v5 pick & ban tournament on the Saturday with details forthcoming closer to the convention.
This is a very early sneak peek of Isabel, a hero we have not spoken about much up to this point. Her rules translate the Paladin archetype perfectly to the tabletop and she is going to be a fantastic addition to the Judgement universe.
We have plenty of cool things planned for release in 2020, however, for now, we will keep them under wraps. We are bursting with excitement about what we have locked in already after all! :)
Jeff & Andrew
Throughout the ages, goblins had remained in the shadows, struggling for millennia to find meaning once Edarr had fallen. They continued to worship darkness in all its forms, living in their subterranean lairs, stealing snippets of knowledge from the surface races whenever they could. Occasionally, extraordinary goblins would make their way to the surface and mix with the other races, just like Bale and Sarna.
The twins, inseparable since birth, were named the Mischievous Duo from a young age, a moniker they appreciate and actively encourage. It seems the gods themselves are unable to separate the two since, for the first time, the gods summoned the twins as a pair. The interaction between the demigods, Between and the mortals of Athien is ever-changing as the power of the Effigies they create increases. The ability to bind two or more individuals to a single ethereal chord is the latest development, and the possibilities seem limitless.
The twin's combat synergies are a self-fulfilling aspect of their partnership. Over time, they each concentrate their skills in an area where, as a team, was lacking. Bale gravitated towards physical combat where Sarna combined guile, wit and magical aptitude to fulfil her side of the symbiotic bond.
Bale and Sarna are a very high-skill cap hero. They require careful placement, order activation and clever use of a shared activation pool to realise their potential. There are many layers to their abilities that will not become clear until you have many games under your belt. However, in the hands of an experienced player, the Mischievous Duo will be a force to be reckoned with.
Let's first walk through the new Hero Unit type which Bale and Sarna have introduced to the game.
Unit cohesion is satisfied when all models of a hero unit are within 3" of the Commander. Note, a unit Commander is always considered to satisfy Unit Cohesion.
Models, in Unit Cohesion, can use the following game rules. Models that are not in Unit Cohesion cannot use the following game rules.
Individual models that are part of the unit still count as hero models, whether in or out of unit cohesion.
If the unit Commander dies:
Bale & Sarna are a high skill-cap hero unit with a ton of synergies and cool abilities. We will be releasing more in-depth analysis of their gameplay in future streams and blog posts. For now, we present their v0.8 cards for your enjoyment.
We are planning on releasing Bale & Sarna at Adepticon 2020 and will be revealing their sculpts in the near future.
We found out today that our application to demonstrate Judgement on the Gen Con official Twitch stream, during the convention, was successful. Game creator, Andrew "Guns" Galea and "Chain Attack" Jay Larsen will be hosting the show where they will discuss the game in general before diving into a game! Streaming Judgement on the official Gen Con Twitch channel will get the game in front of thousands of new players and enable us to continue to grow our burgeoning player base.
When: 6 pm, Thursday 1st August (GMT -4)
Where: http://twitch.tv/genconstudio
Remember to follow the Gen Con Twitch channel to be reminded whenever it goes live and make sure you don't miss the stream.
Friendly reminder that our excellent pre-order deals are still available right now for those attending Gen Con or having a friendly ninja who is visiting for you.
The Sharn, Orc Guardian, hero model is being launched at Gen Con and is available for pre-order now!
The Judgement crew cannot wait to get to the convention and remember to stop by and say hello, have a demo, and pick up some of the best miniatures on the market at booth #2861!
