The founders of WizKids, now operating from the high-energy laboratories of Wells Expeditions, have traveled through time, space, and alternative realities to bring forth their newest creation: the Arcane Legions collectable mass action miniatures game.

The year is 37 BCE, but all is not how it appears in our history books. Caesar died on the Senate floor right on schedule, but after that things got weird. Mysterious energies scorched the Earth, leaving behind a changed world of eldritch creatures and mystic powers. The Middle East is in flames. Augustus’ Rome, Cleopatra’s Egypt, and the Chinese Han Dynasty now battle to dominate a world in chaos. Their huge arcane armies, like none ever seen before, clash to the death amid the ruins of even more ancient civilizations.

In an industry first, Arcane Legions allows players to send hundreds of figures to their deaths in less than two hours. The game’s unique formation base system easily allows players to vary the combat capabilities of units by changing the formations of figures in the units’ bases.

For example, organizing a unit’s figures into a marching formation grants the unit increased speed but reduces its offensive and defensive effectiveness. Reorganizing into an attack formation decreases a unit’s speed but dramatically increases its offensive punch.

Movement and combat is fast and deadly, using an abstracted movement system (no tape measures!) and a simple dice-off combat mechanic. As a unit takes damage, figures are removed from its formation base, reducing occupied positions and thus the capabilities of the unit. Everything a player needs to know or reference is on each unit’s base and associated special ability card; there are no tables, charts, or rules to reference.

Though easy to learn and play, Arcane Legions is built with deep strategy, and for the first time in a collectable game, players can design their own units. A unit’s statistics are displayed on unit cards which are laid onto unit bases, and more specific capabilities are determined by figure arrangement. Predesigned unit cards come in the Starter Game and Booster Packs, providing ready-to-play armies right out of the box. Once familiar with the game, players can join the online Centurion Club to create their own unit cards. The online system automatically costs the player’s custom unit so that the game remains balanced. Each unit is also assigned a unique serial number that can be checked for validity from any Web browser, including mobile devices! The ease and depth of customization available in Arcane Legions takes game play and player involvement to a whole new level.

Cost is generally a big entry barrier for miniatures games, especially mass action games, but Wells Expeditions made Arcane Legions affordable at every step. The Arcane Legions Starter Game has everything two players need to get started (more than 110 figures!), making it inexpensive to field armies right from the beginning. Though most miniatures games feature a collectable model that results in useless or redundant figures, Arcane Legions makes sure that every figure you buy is useful. First, we took common figures out of randomized Booster Packs so that you don’t end up with more of them than you want. Fixed common figures are available in faction-specific Infantry Army Packs (40 figures) and Cavalry Army Packs (14–15 figures); these figures are unpainted but feature deco-print enhancements. The leaders and powerful figures are available in faction-specific Booster Packs, which contain 5 to 10 fully painted, random figures and eight custom unit cards that use figures from both Boosters and Army Packs. Chasing rare figures can drive up the cost of collecting, so we have kept the chase to reasonable levels. In fact, if you buy a faction-specific, 8-Booster “Legion Bundle,” you are guaranteed to get one of every collectable figure and unit base of that faction in the release. 

Fast to play and inexpensive to collect, Arcane Legions finally takes mass action miniatures from an expensive lifestyle back to an enjoyable game. Huge armies—bought cheap and killed fast!

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