Warhammer Underworlds

What is Warhammer Underworlds

Warhammer Underworlds is Games Workshop’s small arena game for two players, set in the Mortal Realms of Age of Sigmar. The rulebook calls it “a fast-paced skirmish game of strategy and combat.” Each player brings a warband of a few named fighters and a deck of cards, and you fight over a hex board for Glory points.

It first came out as Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire in October 2017. I played the original Shadespire back then, and I tore my old Shadespire board apart for a diorama in Building Teaspoon’s Lava Rock Diorama, Part 1.

The current edition started with Embergard, which went up for pre-order on 2 November 2024 and was released on 16 November. The fighting moved to the mines beneath the ruined city of Embergard.

The current edition: Embergard (2024)

Games Workshop’s design team said they wanted “everyone to have access to the same cards and decks no matter what warband they chose.” So the big change is the cards. In the old seasons each warband came with its own cards. Now a warband’s own rules live on its fighter cards and a warscroll, and the decks are universal Rivals decks that work with any warband. The cards also switched from painted artwork to photos of the miniatures.

The Embergard box is $100 / £67.50 / €85. It has:

two warbands: the Emberwatch (Stormcast Eternals) and Zikkit’s Tunnelpack (Clans Skryre Skaven)
four Rivals decks: Blazing Assault, Emberstone Sentinels, Pillage and Plunder, and Countdown to Cataclysm
a rulebook, a quick start guide, tokens, dice, and a double-sided board

Older warbands weren’t thrown out. At launch Games Workshop gave all 58 existing warbands updated rules, and most of them are free downloads. Sixteen came back in print in four Grand Alliance boxes.

Spitewood is the first big expansion. It went up for pre-order on 4 October 2025 at $85 / £52 / €67, with two new warbands (Kurnoth’s Heralds and the Blood of the Bull), two more Rivals decks, and a new double-sided board. It has no dice and no core rules, so it’s an add-on to Embergard, not a way in. Tale of Painters put it plainly: “Embergard is still the starter set for this edition.”

New warbands keep coming out one at a time. The newest as of this writing are Thanatek’s Tithe (February 2026) and Thyrielle’s Zephyrites, a Lumineth warband, in May 2026.

How it plays

Three battle rounds. Each round, players alternate turns until each has had 4.
One action a turn. In your Action step you pick one Core ability, like a Move, and resolve it. That’s it.
Then the cards. In the Power step both players take turns playing Power cards, using warscroll abilities, or delving a feature token, until both pass in a row.
Glory wins. You score Glory points from Objective cards and from killing enemy fighters. Every fighter has a Bounty value, so taking out the tough ones pays more. Most Glory after three rounds wins.
The deck is half your army. A Rivals deck is 32 cards: 12 gold Objective cards that say how you score, and 20 red Power cards, which are Ploys and Upgrades.
Four playstyles. The decks are built around Strike, Take and Hold, Mastery, and Flex, and you can pair any warband with any deck.
An underdog rule. If your slain fighters are worth more Bounty than your opponent’s, you’re the underdog, and some abilities only work for you.

There are two formats for organised play. Rivals is pick one pre-built deck and play. Nemesis has you build a deck by combining two Rivals decks, with a restricted list to keep it in check.

On the table it’s a board game more than a terrain game. The board and tokens come in the box, and you don’t need scenery. I’ve filed it as a skirmish game anyway, because the rulebook calls it one and it’s played with painted warbands of named fighters, like Warcry and Kill Team.

How to start

Get Embergard. It’s the starter: two warbands, four decks, the board, and the dice. $100.
Download the free rules. The Warhammer Community Underworlds downloads page has the core rules, the organised play format rules, the latest rules update, and warband rules for older warbands.
Pick a warband and a deck. Any warband, any Rivals deck. Play a few games with the box before you buy anything else.
Add Spitewood or a single warband when you want more. Spitewood needs the dice and rules from Embergard.
Check your old warbands. If you’ve got warbands from the old seasons, the free downloads probably cover them. The format rules list which ones are legal for organised play.