Hello Westeros!
When talking to newcomers to the ASOIAF game, one question often comes early: “Which faction should I choose?”
It is a common struggle in miniature games for new players, due to several factors among which:
– Too many factions to chose from
– All models look good
– No experience in wargaming
So first option: do like me and get everything.
Disclaimer: this is NOT advised. Trust me, and even if you hate me right now (“but they all look soooo nice”), your wallet will thank me.
Second option: pick the faction whose models you like best. If you are a casual player, you will have more fun playing the faction which makes you dream than one which doesn’t really appeal to you. You love the golden lion thing Lannisters have going for them? Well go for it, and learn to play with them, for better or worse!
Third option: learn about the factions before you jump in! This is what this article is here for, to give you an overview of all factions, to help you pick the right one for you!
—
Stark
Winter is coming
Starks are tough, in that they will mostly become more aggressive as time goes by and ranks go down. One of the fun part of collecting Starks is that smaller houses are fairly represented, such as Umbers or Mormonts. This gives the faction a “Northern alliance” feel which is quite fun and thematic, all the houses joining Robb in the mission to rescue “the Ned”. Moreover, they have access to direwolves, which are a cheap activation, very mobile and with great destruction potential, and who can say no to huge puppies?
Thanks to their diversity of sub-factions, they can be played in a lot of different ways, from tanky Tullys to explosive on last rank Umbers, which makes it one of the most polyvalent factions.
Keywords: Retaliation, Wolves, Diversity
—
Lannister
Hear me roar
If you enjoy watching your opponent cry in despair, the Lannisters are made for you. Their two main focuses are panic and control. You will have access to some of the best panic damages in the game, while thwarting your opponent’s plans effortlessly, through a combination of cards, NCUs and attachments.
There are 3 main themes in the Lannister faction, which you can combine to get the best of each: the red and gold titular troops, heavy armored and panic dealers; the lackeys of Gregor “the Mountain” Clegane, brutal and more efficient against weaker units; and the followers of the Faith Militant, led by the High Sparrow, with high morale and tokens tricks.
Similarly to the Starks, it makes theme-list building pretty fun, and a quite diverse faction in terms of units!
Keywords: Control, Panic
—
Baratheon
Ours is the fury
Baratheons are a little bit of an oddball, in that they really are two factions in one. With both Robert’s brothers fighting for their own claim, the faction is divided in an loyalty system: a third joining Stannis, a third joining Renly, and the last third being “free-for-all”. The overall faction theme is attrition. You will get good defense, slow mobility and punishing answers to your opponent attempts to hurt you.
The Stannis side is the hardest one to lean into, due to his overall panic focused theme, which does not synergize greatly with the main deck. R’hllor worshipers make the bulk of this sub-faction, relying on a good morale and vicious fanaticism. This side is overall the most aggressive one, contrasting a bit with the Baratheon faction style. Miniature-wise, they are in my opinion some of the most beautiful sculpts in the game, notably the Kingsmen and Queensmen.
Keywords: Attrition, Panic
The Renly side is most commonly known as the Tyrell side, seeing that (so far) all his loyal units come from Highgarden, the Tyrells’ seat of power. The whole shtick of his loyalty is simple: healing, and hurt the opponent while doing so. Due to this healing factor, the Renly side works much better with the overall “Attrition” identity of the faction, and it is worth noting that his NCUs are some of the strongest across factions.
Keywords: Attrition, Healing
—
Greyjoy
We do not sow
The last ones to join the game, in early 2021, the sea-pirates quickly became one of the best-rounded factions around. A combination of devastating attacks and healing power makes it very lethal on the battlefield, and they now have a whole arsenal of tools to palliate to their weaknesses: defense and morale.
One of their key mechanics is the “Pillage” tokens, which will improve your units after destroying full enemy ranks. This makes theGreyjoy units lacking in power at the start of the game, but the more rounds in, the more dangerous they become. Moreover, their tactics deck is one of the best (and fun) ones, with many surprises in store for their opponent, such as an unforeseen free attack or a unit coming back from destruction.
Keywords: Horde, Offense, Healing
—
Targaryen
Fire and blood
Dragons! Well, not only, but that’s how it feels to fight a Targaryen army. That or HORSES. Lots and lots of horses. The particularity ofTargaryens first lies in their diversity: very mobile Dothraki units, brave and efficient Unsullied, or cheap Stormcrows. And dragons. To reflect the different optics of the faction, each commander has 4 cards, instead of the normal 3 (1 of them replacing one of the main faction deck). This can help tune in your list depending on the orientation you want to take: a full Dothraki list led by Khal Drogo or an Unsullied phalange led by Greyworm will function very differently.
The dragons are a key part of the faction: while playing all 3 of them is more or less taboo nowadays, adding one or two to your list can be a challenge for both your opponent (two dragons) and you (one dragon).
Dracarys!
Keywords: Elite, Offense, Monsters
—
Night’s Watch
The elite faction, the Night’s Watch is composed of mostly expensive units, but ones which can take a punch and hit back, hard. The most unique trait of the faction is the vows’ mechanic: many of their Tactics cards are vows, which you can attach to a unit when playing it, giving it a bonus for the rest of the game. This can turn your already very strong units into unstoppable powerhouses, and can turn into a real headache for your opponent.
There are two minor subthemes in this faction: one is the Builders, representing the range defenses of the Wall such as warmachines, while the second is the Rangers, the eyes and ears of the Watch beyond the Wall. Oh, and the Heroes 2 box comes with Coldhands on a majestic elk.
If you don’t like rainbows and are a big fan of Space Marines, take the black!
Keywords: Elite, Warmachines, Bastard
—
Free Folks
The horde faction by excellence, with enough beasts and giants to make it varied. Free Folks usually aim to get more activations than their opponent, to counter their overall weaker unit problem, especially in defense and morale. This is helped by one of their tactic card which can bring a new Raider unit to the battlefield, potentially allowing you to play with 8 more points than the game format. The cheap cost of the base units allows you to bring a lot of attachments, helping to personalize your list in the direction you prefer. They also have access to big creatures such as giants andmammoths, which bring some resilience to their usual flimsiness.
It is worth noting that the recent Heroes 2 box made an all-giant list possible, including Mag the Mighty’s full deck, which replacesthe normal faction one.
So if you are into big monsters and furry stuff, this is the faction for you!
Keywords: Horde, Monsters, Diversity
—
Neutrals
This faction is a bit particular: all factions, except Free Folks, have access to Neutral units and commanders. Second particularity: they do not have a starter box. Due to these facts, I would recommend starting another faction first, and to get Neutral boxes to complement it afterwards (starting with Neutral Heroes 1, which has the Neutral deck inside). With this method, you will have 2 playable armies, with a lot of options for your first one!
The Neutral faction regroups all the mercenaries, sellswords and shifting-loyalties experts of Westeros and Essos, and 4 main groups share the cake: the Bolton house, led by Roose and Ramsay, is very heavily focused on causing panic to your opponent; the Stormcrows, led by Daario Nahaaris, are the mercs by excellence, relying on coins to get the highest performance; theBloody Mummers, led by Vargo Hoat, aim to weaken your opponent’s attacks to protect themselves; and finally the Golden Company, for which only one unit is available at the moment, seemingly going for the “elite sellswords” shtick.
Their Tactics deck is a bit lacking, but is sufficiently versatile to satisfy all allegiances. Going with a Neutral list is definitely an uphill battle, with your opponent potentially bringing your own best troops against you to compliment his army, but this makes it all the more rewarding towin battles with them!
Keywords: Diversity, Heroes-for-Hire, Panic
—
Conclusions
I will get into deeper analysis of each faction in the coming weeks, but hopefully this might have given you a small overview of the ones which could steal your heart (and coins!)… In the meantime, do not hesitate to check out the CMON official website to learn a bit more about the different units!
Grob’
Chez Grob 