Garphill Games News – New East Empire Game! And Paladins Stuff

Double post day today, but I didn’t remember that the Garphill Games announcement Youtube was going live today.

There was some really exciting news in this one, especially the new East Empire game!

There are some other announcements, like a couple of card games, the Spirited expansions and the like.

But two big ones are the ones I want to talk about.

The first East Empire game is called Wallguards of the East Empire and the box looks very…green.

Also pretty cool.

This one is coming to Kickstarter in early November and you can be notified here.

Of course, as with the other trilogy games, it was designed by Shem and Sam with artwork by the Mico.

It is classified as a deckbuilder, but you have no deck.

Instead, your cards are played to a tableau.

I’ll let the press release describe it better:

“Game Overview

The aim of Wallguards of the East Empire is to be the player with the most Victory Points (VP) at the game’s end. Points are gained by training Warriors, gaining Siege and Technicians, improving the Barracks, and most importantly, defending the city’s walls. Each turn players will be using Cards to take actions, with most actions causing 1 or more Cards to be placed into the 4 Battlefields above their Player Board. Once a Battlefield has 5 or more Cards a defence will be triggered, and that player’s strength must be assessed. Victory will gain them a Defector, while defeat will bring a new Ally. The game ends after either the Defector or Ally Draw Pile runs out.

Gameplay Highlights

A satisfying gameplay loop and an exciting game arc.

A unique deck building/action taking system with no cards in hand and quick turns reminiscent of Architects of the West Kingdom. 

Choose how to upgrade the starting cards in your deck and add technicians or powerful new siege weapons.”

There are some dice, sort of the way there are in Raiders of the North Sea, but they’re only used for a couple of things.

Unlike the South Tigris trilogy, they are not the main mechanic.

You are trying to be the best at defending the walls of the ancient city of Byzantium (Constantinople).

The video does show how the boards and cards look, but no graphics were shared of it.

You should probably watch the video!

This is definitely going on my Kickstarter list. Both Shem and Sam said that this game would be more “teachable” than the South Tigris games, but that they would not be “light.”

So maybe Architects of the West Kingdom weight?

The other announcement is for a game that’s kind of the spiritual successor to Paladins of the West Kingdom.

Paladins of Highcrown was likened by Sam as the Gaia Project to the Paladins Terra Mystica, for those of you familiar with those games.

Some of the same mechanics, like choosing a paladin for the round that will make one of your actions more powerful, using a Develop action to make an action permanently stronger, and even something similar to the Attack and Convert actions, though in this case you’re either hunting or taming beasts.

It will also have artwork by Andrew Bosley, which will be very interesting.

Here’s the blurb for this one:

“Game Overview

The aim of Paladins of Highcrown is to be the player with the most Victory Points (VP) at the game’s end. Points are gained primarily by improving attributes, supplying the battlefields, taming beasts, and by persuading or inspiring the city’s inhabitants to support the defensive efforts. Each Round, players will enlist the help of a new Paladin before using their supplies of workers and resources to take various actions. Once they cannot take any further actions, they must rest, which may come with extra benefits alongside new workers for the next Round. After 5 Rounds, the player with the most Victory Points will be declared the winner!

Gameplay Highlights

An innovative solo mode where there are no bot turns, with the only upkeep being between rounds. This also includes a 12 Chapter solo campaign with a story book written by Bobby Hill

Built upon the core system of Paladins of the West Kingdom but improved and enhanced in a new setting

A big main board provides many more points of interaction between players than in original Paladins. “

This one is coming to Kickstarter in early 2027, and apparently it is huge.

It’s “the biggest boxed game we’ve ever done!” and the picture just makes it look that way.

Given my non-love for big boxes, I may skip this one?

But I will definitely take a look at it.

Thoughts on these two?

Or if you go to the video, the card games they talked about?

Let me know in the comments.