BLACKSTONE FORTRESS: TRAITOR COMMAND EXPANSION / PUBLISHER: GAMES WORKSHOP / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Traitor Command is an expansion to Games Workshop’s space dungeon crawl game, Blackstone Fortress. The big appeal is that it adds some leadership units to the hapless humans who have turned to Chaos and dog the paths of the explorers (AKA the players).
We get two models. First, a Traitor Commissar who looks like a crazed fanatic. It’s a lovely model and fits the look of game perfectly. We also get a massive Chaos Ogryn, a huge monstrous creature that has turned to darkness. They come as a kit and both are pretty easy to put together.
Rules-wise, the Traitor Commissar is quite scary. His gear includes a powerfist, which means he can hurt even the most heavily armoured explorer. He also makes the rest of the Traitor Guardsmen (from the core set) more effective. Not only can he generate more guardsmen, he can also motivate and or murder them. As Guardsmen are a common foe in BSF, just adding this chap to the mix can make things pretty deadly. The chaos Ogryn is much scarier. For a start, at 12 wounds he’s pretty much unstoppable. He’s so big that he’s easy to hit, but that means he’s also going to hit you if you’re dumb enough to get close. And he can pretty much crush any explorer to death. Corrupted by Chaos as he is, the dark gods also make him heal. This giant space ogre will also protect the Commissar, which means that your party has a constant flow of foes heading your way unless you take on this odd couple.
The actual side quest is nicely done. It’s intended to be played as an add-on to a normal Blackstone Fortress campaign – a small victory that, if successfully completed, will aid you in completing the game’s core mission. You’re basically beating up bad guys in order to stop them from summoning their dark gods and using the Fortress to further the cause of Chaos. Beat up enough baddies and you’ll have enough MacGuffins to unlock the end of the story. The final mission is in a sealed envelope, as is the reward for completing that mission. The actual story is quite neat and it is a fun yet challenging adventure. You can mix most of the challenge cards into your core set afterwards, if you wish.
We also get a new support craft, called the Eye of Vect. It’s a Drukhari (AKA Dark Eldar) ship, and the sharp-eyed among you will note that they aren’t any Drukhari amongst the explorers (typically, the support ships “belong” to one of the explorers). The Eye of Vect offers players the power to easily activate their most effective abilities, but at a cost. Fail to pay the cost and the results could easily be fatal. It’s basically the “dark bargain” support ship.
There’s enough in this expansion box to make the game last longer and be more fun. Though pricey for what it is, it does add a little more depth to an already great dungeon crawl.
