Sample card from Dark Millennium

Dark Millennium is the successor to the Horus Heresy collectible card game set in the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe. The base card set was launched in October 2005 by Sabertooth Games. Collectible card games (CCGs), also called customizable card games or trading card games, are played using specially designed sets of cards. ... Cover of the Warhammer 40,000 4th edition rulebook This article is about the tabletop miniature wargame and the fictional universe in which it is set. ... 2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Deaths in October 28: Richard Smalley 26: Emil Kyulev 24: José Azcona del Hoyo 24: Rosa Parks 23: Stella Obasanjo 22: Liam Lawlor 22: Shirley Horn 20: Endon Mahmood 17: Ba Jin 10: Milton Obote 7: Charles...

Storyline

Events have conspired to draw members of different races and factions into a remote area of space. Each group has its own set of goals, but they all include eradiction of any who would stand in opposition. Drawn to the resource-rich regions of the Pyrus sector are:

• The forces of Chaos, championed by the Word Bearers.
• A horde or "Waaagh!" of Orks, led by Warboss Garzulk the Faceless.
• Shadowy Eldar, manipulating events for their own purposes.
• The Emperor's own forces of the Imperium.

In Games Workshops Warhammer 40000 and Warhammer Fantasy fictional universes, Chaos refers to the often malevolent entities which live in The Warp, composed mostly of Daemons, but also includes those mortals who have thrown in their lot with the daemons, ranging from simple peasants and/or laborers, to wizards... The Word Bearers are one of the twenty First Founding Legions of the Space Marines, who have turned to worship of the malevolent Chaos Gods in the future universe of Warhammer 40,000. ... A mob of Ork Boyz The Orks are a race from the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe. ... In the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000, the Eldar are a race of humanoid aliens. ... The Imperium of Man is a fictional galactic empire that contains the majority of humanity, set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe created by Games Workshop. ...

Gameplay overview

Dark Millennium uses the same basic rules as Horus Heresy.

A game in the Dark Millennium universe pits two commanders and their respective armadas against each other for control of an important planet within the Pyrus sector. One side is declared the attacker, while the other is the defender, but both fight for control of three sectors which are deemed key to winning the planet. The game continues until a player captures two sectors, or four complete turns have elapsed. In the case of neither player dominating the planet after four turns, whoever has won control of a sector (or the more valuable sector if each player has one) wins the game.

Each full turn starts with the deployment phase. In this phase, players deploy one card from their decks face up to each and every unclaimed sector. Players then draw a hand of six cards and alternate deploying cards face down from their hand to any unclaimed sector, one a time. There is no limit to how many cards may be deployed to each sector, but a relative imbalance may lead to an advantage in one sector with a corresponding disadvantage in another sector. Following deployment, the attacking player chooses a sector to contest, and a battle for that sector commences. Once the battle ends, the result may be that one of the two players has claimed the sector, or that neither player has, but once a sector is captured, it is out of play. After the battle selected by the attacker, the defending player chooses a different sector to contest (if any other sector remains unclaimed). Following the conclusion of the two battles, the turn ends and a new turn begins with the deployment phase being repeated.

Factions and decks

Cards in Dark Millennium have one of the following five faction affiliations:

• Chaos - The demonic forces of Khorne, Slaanesh, Nurgle, and Tzeentch, as well as Chaos Space Marines from the Word Bearers, World Eaters and Death Guard.

• Ork - Destructive Ork clanz including the Evil Sunz, Bad Moons, and Goffs.

• Eldar - Ancient Eldar hailing from the Craftworlds of Ulthwe, Biel-Tan, and Saim-Hann.

• Imperial - Loyal forces of the Emperor of Mankind, including the Imperial Guard, heroic Space Marines, and Daemonhunters of the Inquisition.

• Unaligned - Resources which can be made use of any be any faction, or which represent a generic entity which any faction could possess.

A play deck (made up of units, assets, and ships) must contain at least 60 cards, and may not contain more than four of any one card (except where a specific card notes otherwise). Each player must choose a side or faction when creating a deck, and this restricts the deck to only unaligned cards and cards from that specific faction. A given game may involve two competing decks from any of the factions; there are no additional restrictions on the participants. // General In the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Fantasy, Khorne is the Chaos god of hate, bloodshed and war. ... Slaanesh is the youngest God in the Chaos pantheon. ... In the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Fantasy, Nurgle is the god of disease, decay, consistency and the related concept of despair. ... Tzeentch, in Games Workshops Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 fictional universes is a god of Chaos who represents the vitality and volatility of change. ... Miniature of a Chaos Chosen in Terminator Armour In the table-top wargame Warhammer 40,000, the Chaos Space Marines are one of the forces of Chaos. ... The Word Bearers are one of the twenty First Founding Legions of the Space Marines, who have turned to worship of the malevolent Chaos Gods in the future universe of Warhammer 40,000. ... The World Eaters are a legion of the Chaos Space Marines in the tabletop wargame Warhammer 40K. They are worshippers of the god Khorne, and live for nothing more than to spill blood in his name. ... In the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000, the Death Guard are one of the traitor legions of Chaos Space Marines. ... // Ulthwé The Damned In the fictional universe of the table-top wargame Warhammer 40,000, Ulthwé is one of the largest Craftworld homes of the Eldar, the elf-like humanoid race that wanders the stars. ... Biel Tan // Way Of Life Biel-Tan is located towards the southern rim of the galaxy, at the edge of what is believed to be the extent of the ancient Eldar empire. ... The Emperor of Mankind is a fictional character from the Warhammer 40,000 universe. ... The Imperial Guard (French:Garde impériale) was originally a small group of elite soldiers of the French Army under the direct command of Napoleon I, but grew considerably over time. ... Originally known as the Angels of Death, the Space Marines are one of the major forces available in the table-top wargame Warhammer 40,000. ... In the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe, the Daemonhunters (formally known as the Ordo Malleus) are one of the three Ordos of the Holy Emperors Inquisition. ... The Inquisition (formally The Holy Orders of the Emperors Inquisition) is a secret organisation in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. ...

Additional factions may be made available in future expansion sets.

Card roles

Each non-sector card in the Dark Millennium game system can serve in three separate and distinct roles. These uses are as follows:

1. Normal - Functioning as the actual unit, asset or ship printed on the face of the card. Cards deployed to sectors operate in this standard fashion.
2. Die - Used as a pseudo-random number generator, to check the success or failure of some action. When a result needs to be determined, the top card of that player's deck is flipped over (into the discard pile), revealing the die printed on the card.
3. Command - Kept in the player's hand during a battle and played as needed for strategic purposes. In this role, the card is turned upside down and only the inverted text at the bottom is used; the remaining portion of the card serves no purpose.

Because of this unique multi-purpose system, every card placed into a deck must be considered for each of its uses. A powerful unit may have a very poor die role, while a mediocre asset with an excellent command line ability may be worth keeping in a deck on the chance that it is drawn into the hand when initiating a battle.

Product compatibility

The cards from the previous Horus Heresy collectible card game (which was also produced by Sabertooth Games) are usable with Dark Millennium, although the Horus Heresy cards only represent two of the factions within Dark Millennium. Players playing Chaos decks or Imperial decks can freely use Traitor and Loyalist cards in their decks, respectively.

Cards from Dark Millennium may not be used in games of Horus Heresy.

Dark Millennium products

External links

• Sabertooth Games - Dark Millennium home
• Sabertooth Games - Dark Millennium fiction
• BoardGameGeek - Dark Millennium