Warp's Edge – Expansion: Viren Invasion
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Warp's Edge – Expansion: Viren Invasion
The Viren are back, and this time they bring new threats. The Viren Invasion expansion introduces two new motherships, two new starfighters, new enemy types with unique rules, and new skill cards. One thing to note: Viren enemies react fundamentally differently to lasers and maneuvers than the enemies you already know.
The Viren Invasion expansion cannot be played alone. You need the Warp's Edge base game.
What's New? – Overview
- 9 Pilot Tokens
- 1 Starfighter Dashboard (double-sided) → 2 new starfighters: ACHILLES and TITAN
- 1 Mothership Dashboard (double-sided) → 2 new motherships: THE ENDLESS and THE HIVE
- 3 new Skill Cards
- 6 new Enemy Cards
- 2 Phase Markers
Two new power token types, Overwhelm and Exposed Blast, also come with this expansion. The rulesheet doesn't assign them a separate quantity in its component list, they're part of the loadout for Achilles and Titan and only come into play when one of these two starfighters is in use.
Setup – Changes from the Base Game
Follow the normal base game setup, with these additions:
- Integrate the enemy cards: Shuffle the 6 new enemy cards into the matching level piles of the base game before you build the enemy deck.
- Integrate the skill cards: Shuffle all 3 new skill cards into the existing skill deck.
- New power tokens: The new starfighters Achilles and Titan each need their own new power token type from this expansion. Load the power token tray to match whichever starfighter you've chosen.
- Phase markers: Only needed for the mothership The Hive, setup details are on its dashboard.
New Power Tokens
- Overwhelm: This token counts as two lasers. If the assigned target is destroyed with it, it also counts as one laser against all other targets until the end of that turn.
- Exposed Blast: This token counts as four lasers, but you take one damage first when you use it. It has no other effect.
The new power tokens Overwhelm and Exposed Blast can only be used together with the new starfighters ACHILLES and TITAN. Only these two starfighters carry them in their loadout.
New Enemy Types and Their Special Rules
Viren enemies differ fundamentally from every enemy you've faced before:
These enemies cannot be destroyed or stunned by lasers. Instead, they can only be defeated and stunned by energy.
Maneuvers still work against them exactly as normal: you can stun and evade them with maneuvers the usual way. Only lasers are useless against these three enemy types.
When these enemies enter the enemy row, additional enemy cards must be drawn from the enemy deck and placed to their right. Refill the normal slots first, then draw as many extra cards as indicated. This can temporarily push the enemy row past 4 cards. This is purely an arrival rule tied to these three enemy cards, and it applies regardless of which mothership you're fighting.
New Skill Cards
- Bug Spray (offensive): Specifically designed against Viren enemies.
- Blazing Exoskeleton (defensive): A protective mechanism for difficult rounds.
- Energy Reserves (upgrade): A resource-management improvement.
These cards show up as new options in the skill card selection, even if you're using the storybook's story options.
New Starfighters
- ACHILLES: More options, thanks to an ability that draws an extra token every turn. The fragile hull makes it a bit of a glass cannon though, one capable of a lot of damage, but promising a tense fight down to the last moment.
- TITAN: A bit less beefy than others in its class. Lets you gain a new token whenever you take damage, turning damage itself into a resource. A bit of damage improves your options, as long as you can divert enough energy to your shields.
New Motherships
- THE ENDLESS ★★★★★ – Unprotected: The highest difficulty in the whole game. Instead of destroying sections with lasers or evading them with maneuvers, every section must be defeated exclusively with energy. On top of that, level 2 and level 3 enemies show up every single turn, without a break. This opponent is meant for very experienced pilots.
- THE HIVE ★★★★ – Protected: This mothership comes with a swarm, the enemy row runs up to 5 cards deep. If you let enemies deal damage to you, the mothership's own swarm keeps growing, regardless of which enemy cards happen to be in the row at the time. You'll need to fight through the swarm to reach the mothership itself, all under constantly mounting pressure. Strategy: eliminate enemies consistently, keep the swarm in check, never take more damage than you have to.
We couldn't confirm the star ratings for The Endless and The Hive as actual characters in the rulesheet excerpt we reviewed, only the description text. They're printed on the dashboards themselves, worth double-checking against the physical component.
Recommended Combinations
ACHILLES vs. THE HIVE – the Protected structure gives you clear phase logic. The swarm mechanic is new but easy to follow. Build up energy tokens in your bag early so you're ready for Larva/Pupa/Adult enemies.
TITAN vs. THE HIVE – Titan can turn damage taken into new tokens, which makes it especially effective against The Hive's growing swarm once damage becomes unavoidable.
ACHILLES or TITAN vs. THE ENDLESS – a pure energy focus. Rebuild your bag consistently around high-value energy tokens. Lasers and maneuvers have no value against its sections, invest accordingly.
Common Mistakes with Viren Invasion
- Using lasers against Larva/Pupa/Adult: these enemies can't be destroyed or stunned by lasers. Maneuvers still work against them completely normally, only lasers are useless here.
- Mixing up the two swarm rules: Worker/Drone/Queen grow the row the moment they enter play, regardless of the mothership. The Hive, on the other hand, grows its own swarm whenever you take damage, regardless of which enemy cards are currently in the row. These are two different triggers that are easy to confuse.
- Approaching THE ENDLESS with the wrong bag: a bag optimized for lasers will lose against THE ENDLESS, energy tokens are the only currency that works against its sections.
- Forgetting the phase markers with THE HIVE: THE HIVE has specific phase rules printed on its dashboard, read them in full before you start.
Back to the Quick Start Guide or over to the Anomaly expansion info.
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Original texts, translations, and compilation: © ReDesign.
