Duskborne
Home ground · ForestRestless hosts of the grave
“The roots remember your name. The marsh will drink your screams. Come, let the forest decide.”
Patient, relentless, and cold. They speak in the creak of branches and the sigh of the wind through dead leaves. There is no mercy, only inevitability.
Lore
The Duskborne do not march—they seep. From the black heart of the Vaelthorn Forest, their legions rise not with trumpets, but with the whisper of rot beneath the roots. The trees remember the dead, and the dead remember the trees. A Husk costs 30 gold, yet it does not tire, does not flee. It walks until the earth reclaims it, or until its bones are needed again.
Forest tiles cost 3 to enter, but the Duskborne pay less in blood than in time. Their Revenants, clad in the fused ribs of ancient oaks, move through Marsh for only 2 movement points—swift as the mist that clings to the bog. No living army dares follow where the ground itself conspires to drown the unwary. The favored-terrain bonus is not a boon; it is the forest’s judgment, a +1 strength edge for those who belong.
Wraithriders do not charge—they *hunt*. Their poisoned blades do not merely wound; they unravel. A single strike can slay a full-health foe outright, and the Dread Shades circle above, loosing their ranged volleys before the living can raise a shield. The Boneliege, with 7 strength and 2 HP, does not lead from the rear. It strides first into the fray, its First Strike landing before the enemy’s blade can rise.
The Plague Catapult does not hurl fire. It hurls silence. A siege engine that cancels walls, not with thunder, but with the creeping certainty that resistance is futile. The Duskborne do not conquer. They *reclaim*. And the forest always takes back what is hers.
Strategy
Play to the Forest’s embrace. Use Marsh tiles (cost 2 to enter) to outmaneuver foes, then strike from the trees where your +1 favored-terrain bonus applies. Wraithriders poison and assassinate on Plains (1.5 cost), while Dread Shades rain ranged volleys from above. Boneliege’s First Strike and 7 strength anchor the line, and the Plague Catapult cancels city walls without a single arrow fired. Regenerate your losses; the dead do not stay buried.
Roster
The six Duskborneunits, in roster order. Stats are pulled straight from the engine, so they match the live game — see each unit's full entry in the compendium.
A 2-strength husk of sinew and bark, immune to poison, regenerated after battle. The forest’s first and last line.
Tactics · Costs 3 to enter Forest, but Marsh costs only 2. Regenerates if it survives—never truly gone.
Terrain · Moves swiftly through Marsh (2 vs 4)
5 strength, 1 leadership, and the weight of the forest behind it. Immune to poison, it strides through Marsh for 2 movement points.
Tactics · Favors Forest and Hills. Its leadership +1 bolsters the stack, but it fights best where the trees watch.
Terrain · Moves swiftly through Marsh (2 vs 4)
Poison and assassinate on the Plains (1.5 cost). A 4-strength rider that does not wound—it *unmakes*.
Tactics · Slowed in Forest (4 cost), but Marsh is swift (2 cost). Strike where the enemy cannot flee.
Terrain · Moves swiftly through Plains (1.5 vs 2) · Slowed in Forest (4 vs 3) · Moves swiftly through Marsh (2 vs 4)
7 strength, 2 HP, and First Strike. The Boneliege does not parley. It *judges*.
Tactics · Leadership +2 anchors the stack. Forest tiles cost 3, but its 2 HP means it survives to fight again.
Terrain · Moves swiftly through Marsh (2 vs 4)
A 4-strength flyer with ranged volley. Circles above, loosing death before the melee begins.
Tactics · Crosses Mountains and Water for 2 cost. Forest and Hills are swift (2 cost), but it favors no terrain—only the sky.
Terrain · Moves swiftly through Forest (2 vs 3) · Moves swiftly through Hills (2 vs 3) · Crosses Mountains others cannot (2 to enter) · Crosses Water others cannot (2 to enter) · Moves swiftly through Marsh (2 vs 4)
4 strength, siege role. Cancels walls, immune to poison. The forest’s silence made manifest.
Tactics · Slow (6 mv), but Marsh costs only 2. Not a weapon—a herald of the inevitable.
Terrain · Moves swiftly through Marsh (2 vs 4)
Stat lines
| Unit | Str | Mv | HP | Cost | Turns | Upkeep | Leadership | Favored | Abilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HuskInfantry | 2 | 10 | 1 | 30g | 1 | 1 | — | Forest | Immune to Poison, Regenerate |
| RevenantHeavy | 5 | 9 | 1 | 75g | 2 | 2 | +1 | Forest, Hills | Immune to Poison |
| WraithriderCavalry | 4 | 15 | 1 | 75g | 2 | 2 | — | Forest, Plains | Immune to Poison, Poison, Assassinate |
| BoneliegeElite | 7 | 10 | 2 | 160g | 3 | 4 | +2 | Forest | First Strike, Immune to Poison |
| Dread ShadeFlyer | 4 | 16 | 1 | 110g | 2 | 3 | — | — | Ranged, Immune to Poison |
| Plague CatapultSiege | 4 | 6 | 1 | 100g | 3 | 2 | — | — | Immune to Poison |