World Championships Preview – Team up with your pals and defend the Everspring in Warhammer Quest: Darkwater

It’s time to take up your sword, unite with your friends, and battle against the foul forces of Nurgle, the Plague God, in Warhammer Quest: Darkwater, an all new co-operative dungeon crawler for one to four players set in the Mortal Realms.

Deep within the verdant wilds of Ghyran something evil is festering – the Daemon Prince Gelgus Pust, the Prince of Sores, has laid claim to the ruins of the Jade Abbey, within which lies the source of the Everspring – a bounteous well of life energy linked to Alarielle the Everqueen herself. Only a diverse band of heroes have skills and determination to journey into the labyrinth of the Jade Abbey and stop the corruption.

A thrilling cooperative dungeon-crawler for one to four players set within the Age of Sigmar, Warhammer Quest: Darkwarter is a brand new boxed game designed to be replayable over and over. You’ll pick a hero, open the 38-page lay-flat map book to match your chosen scenario, and use miniatures, cards, and dice to battle for the fate of the Everspring. 

This new Warhammer Quest game is quick to learn and easy to play, perfect for game night with your friends and family. Simply pick your heroes and jump into a 30-minute skirmish against the disgusting followers of Nurgle – a perfect bite-sized chunk of gaming for tempting friends into another session, and another, and… hey, why not play a whole campaign? If you want something meatier, you can play through the whole story in about 10-14 hours over multiple days – or one marathon session, if you bring plenty of snacks.

These campaigns are thrilling three-act adventures through the infested ruins of the Jade Abbey, where you’ll play through multiple scenarios, unlock new heroes and rewards, and eventually test yourselves against the loathsome might of Gelgus Pust. Victory isn’t certain, but you shouldn’t let loss put you off! Campaigns are designed to be replayed, and because you only use a portion of the cards on offer each time, every playthrough will be a unique combination of heroes played, encounters fought, events overcome, and rewards looted.

The Miniatures

It wouldn’t be a Warhammer Quest game without loads of awesome miniatures, and Darkwater contains 49 plastic, push-fit models. Our seven intrepid heroes are a varied bunch, each with interesting backgrounds and unique powers that make them suited for their quest. 

Edmark Valoran, Bren Tylis, Inara Sion, Drolf Ironhead

First up, there’s the heroes you may have already seen here on Warhammer Community in the last couple of weeks. Edmark Valoran, the Manticore Knight, one of the greatest mortal champions in all the armies of Hammerhal Aqsha, is joined by Bren Tylis, the Renegade Saint, a vicious mercenary whose ancestor was a legendary hero felled in Pust's initial assault on the Jade Abbey. 

Inara Sion, the Cleansing Blade, is a survivor of the Jade Circle, who carries an amphora of water from the Everspring which lashes out at foes by her command, while Drolf Ironhead is a a survivor at heart, fighting to fulfill an oath to his clan who fought to save the abbey long ago.

Those four are the core heroes you’ll begin with, but three remain to be unlocked in the course of your game. 

Kelthannor, Drasher Vorn, Jacobus Vyne

Wielding a deadly bow and a burning desire to slay Gelgus Pust for his rite of ascension, Prince Kelthannor is a member of a nomadic clan that worships the hunter god Kurnoth. 

Drasher Vorn is chief of a tribe of shapeshifting warriors from Ghur who worship an aspect of the Everqueen they call the Maker of Beasts, and has set out to cure his people from a mutative curse. 

Finally, Jacobus Vyne is a Jade Wizard dedicated to fighting against entropy and decay. He travels with a spite-owl and a vulpine forest spirit he calls Wisper – we’ll learn more about them later.

No noble quest would be complete without a cast of nefarious villains, and the Scions of the Plaguefather are a truly rotten bunch.

Gelgus Pust, Belga the Cystwitch, Mulgoth the Cleaver, Shaman Foulhoof

The towering mountain of flesh and disease known as Gelgus Pust, Prince of Sores was once a holy man corrupted by an insatiable lust for power. By committing his soul to the Plague God Nurgle he earned strength far beyond that of a mortal, and now seeks to repay his master by corrupting the Everspring and thus scoring a savage blow against Alarielle in the war for control of Ghyran.

He is joined by Belga the Cystwitch, a former high priestess of the Jade Abbey driven mad by her revolting new form, and Mulgoth the Cleaver, a loyal servant of Pust who takes great pleasure in destroying beauty and breaking the spirits of virtuous heroes. Shaman Foulhoof lurks in the ruins, a beastman devoted to decay and rot who leads a herd of Pestigors known as the Flyblown. Between them, these vile souls command an army of minions against which our heroes must triumph.

The Cankerborn

The Cankerborn are rare daemons created when hideous violence is conducted against the land itself, creatures twice the height of a Plaguebearer clawing themselves free from the churning ground. Their leathery skin and rocky, filth-encrusted hides make them incredibly resilient, and their mere presence corrupts their surroundings.

Blight Templars

Blight Templars are mighty mortal champions of Nurgle who have willingly absorbed disease and pestilence that would destroy a lesser man in an attempt to prove their devotion to Grandfather Nurgle. They’re unstoppable battering rams oozing with unspeakable fluids, armed with an array of hideous, rusted weapons.

Pox-Wretches

The most numerous of the Nurgle worshippers infesting the Jade Abbey, Pox-Wretches are those taking their first steps on the path to entropy. They wear cyclopean masks that rob them of sight, instead using their sense of smell and taste to hunt down those not enhanced by Nurgle’s fecund gifts. 

Pestigors

Foul creatures who infest the woodlands of Ghyran and beyond, Pestigors are dedicated to polluting sacred spots for the Plaguefather, announcing their presence with phlegmy braying before savagely attacking adventurers.

Mire Kelpies

Mire Kelpies swarm all over the Jade Abbey, cursed spirits born from the corruption that runs deep into the land. Though barely a threat on their own, a swarm of them can quickly become a problem, with diseased bites and the ability to spit lumps of pungent matter with uncanny accuracy.

Beyond the miniatures, you’ll find a set of 14 Warhammer Quest dice, a 36-page rulebook, a quick start guide, 61 cardboard tokens, 12 card deck boxes for storing your progress between sessions, and 341 cards that cover everything from abilities, statuses, equipment, rewards, events, and Act-specific surprises. 

There’s also a 38-page hardback map book which lays flat on your table in place of a board or tiles. This book contains 18 maps, each made up of two pages, which are transformed into encounters by a card you’ll draw before the mission – giving them multiple uses. 

Perhaps in one run through Map Six, you’ll be trying to blow up a passage to enter the lower levels of the Jade Abbey, while in another you may simply need to weather waves of enemies that flood across the tiled floors of this echoing hall. With multiple ways to play each map, your skirmish games and campaigns will play out differently each time.

Each act is split up between these longer, combat-focused encounters which often have challenging side quests, and much shorter events which have you make decisions, roll dice for outcomes, or play minigames. 

When time comes to pause a campaign for the next session, you’ll pack everything into deck boxes which make it easy to pick up at a later date. Speaking of packing things away for later, it’s time for us to pause our explanation here, but there’s loads more to cover as we get closer to release.

Before you get a chance to get stuck in to clear out the Jade Abbey you can Forge Your Destiny by taking part in our Darkwater email adventure. Every week you’ll receive an email that gives you a choice – each decision another step on the journey. Who knows what you might find at the end of this perilous path? Sign up right now to take your first step.

This isn’t the only reveal that has been tainted by Grandfather Nurgle today – head to the reveal hub to see all of the awesome new Warhammer stuff on show.