A Song Of Ice And Fire TMG - Late 2023 New Release Review

This winter, CMON released a suite of new miniatures for A Song of Ice and Fire: Tabletop Miniatures Game featuring additions to the newest faction, House Bolton, as well as some powerful Neutral Heroes and the Darkstar Retinue. CMON sent me copies to check out and playtest, so read on for my thoughts on everything below!

Song of Ice and Fire TMG - Bolton Heroes

As we've previously discussed in our recent review of the House Bolton starter set, this gruesome, horrid house of torturers relies on instilling panic across the battlefield. With this Bolton Heroes set, we see a sordid collection of attachment-style heroes ready to further augment your army. And while calling this sorry lot of absolute creatures like Damon Dance-For-Me "Heroes" is a bit of a stretch, I understand that the naming convention must stand! Let's spend a bit of time going Attachment by Attachment.

First up is Ben Bones, the Kennelmaster, who's cost (1) is reduced by 1 if attached to a unit of Bastard's Girls (these were previously released as a Neutral unit, the Bolton Starter Set includes a card to bring them into the Bolton fold). His ability "Sic 'Em" allows his unit to always re-roll charge distance, and enemies this unit successfully charge become Panicked.

Next up comes a batch of the "Bastard's Boy" Attachments - these are characters who were loyal and friendly to Ramsay Snow, and each has a special rule saying "The first Bastard's Boy Attachment included in your army is free." First, there's Damon Dance-For-Me, who gives his attached unit extra attack die. There's Skinner, who makes enemy units who fail Panic Tests become Weakened (very handy with the Bolton army as a whole). There's Grunt, who has an Order stating "This unit only suffers 1 Wounds for every 2 unblocked Hits." Finally, Sour Alyn lets you choose from a variety of boons, but punishes his unit if it didn't destroy an enemy rank.

From here we move onto Steelshanks Walton, with cards to either use him as an Attachment or as an attached Commander. As an Attachment, along with the special ability "Roose's Vassal" which states that this model counts as Roose Bolton for all game effects (that's fun!), he can also issue an order to perform a free charge or maneuver. The Commander version makes his unit harder to panic while punishing nearby enemies when he does panic.

Finally, there's the only NCU of the box, Tybald Maester of the Dreadfort (who if I recall is only mentioned in a preview chapter of Winds of Winter, how's that for a deep cut!). He's all about claiming important zones on the NCU board, either by discouraging opponents from playing there or claiming it himself with order tokens.

All in all, this is a fun little box full of nice tweaks to your brand new Bolton army. There aren't any big bombs in the box, I don't think, but instead you'll find plenty of ways to further synergize an already rather synergistic army.

Song of Ice and Fire TMG - Dreadfort Archers and Spearmen

I received a review copy of the Dreadfort Archers and the Dreadfort Spearmen, but I've covered the Archers in our House Bolton Starter Set review, so head over there to learn about their Ruthless Volley. Onto the Spearmen, firstly, I love the look of these models, covered in nasty spikes and truly ferocious looking.

As for abilities, they have a 5" move, 4+ Attack (with a 7/7/4 Attack Dice rating!), 4+ Defense, and a 7+ Morale. These are very decent stats for a 5 cost unit! They have two special abilities, Order: Set For Charge - which lets it attack when an opponent charges it from the front or flank, and its Impaling Spear panics nearby enemies units if it destroys a rank.

I think this is a very spicy unit for the Bolton army, giving some good oomph to an army that's more relying on panic than anything else.

Song of Ice and Fire TMG - Darkstar Retinue

Now let's move from House Bolton (while we've still got our skin) and cover the Darkstar Retinue, the personal guard of Ser Garold Dayne. This House Martell unit costs 7 to field (a bit pricey), but let's look at their stats. They're a very speedy 6" Move, their scimitar is 3+ Attack (7/6/4 Attack Dice) with Critical Blow, they have a 5+ Defense, and +5 Morale. 

As for special abilities, they have an Order that let's them Charge instead of Surge Forth, and they regain wounds when they dish out wounds.

Also with this unit is the ability to upgrade it by attaching a High Hermitage Sentinel, which gives the Panicked and Weakened effects to units it charges from the flank or rear, and (and this is a big one) gives the unit it's attached to +1 Movement and may pivot before Marching. Are you kidding me? That's the kind of mobility that House Martell doesn't really need to begin with, but this attachment is really nicely going to slot onto all kinds of units.

Song of Ice and Fire TMG - Neutral Heroes 3

Finally our Song of Ice and Fire TMG new releases review comes to an end with one of the most interesting boxes I've seen in a while, the Neutral Heroes 3. This set includes Jokin and The Widower (of the Stormcrow), as well as Sandor Clegane (Fugitive Bodyguard), Shae (Hidden In Court), Rorge (The Mad Dog Of Saltpans), Biter (Rorge's Mad Dog), and Arya Stark (Fugitive Princess).

Jokin has cards to field him either as Commander or Attachment, and there's a version of The Widower who comes free with each of these versions. These units are probably the least interesting of the set, offering your units Overwatch, auto-damaging units engaged to The Widower, and generally interacting with each other. They're a viable option for a totally neutral army, if you're looking to recreate the Stormcrows, but no real show-stopper here.

Rorge is a nice addition to a unit, costing 2 and with an order that makes his attacks more potent, and the ability to re-roll Retreat Distance Dice. Biter, who can't be fielded unless you're fielding Rorge, has the Gang-Up rule which states "All friendly unit's Melee Attacks gain +1 to Hit and +1 Attack Dice on enemies that are engaged with this unit and at least 1 other friendly Unit." I don't play a lot of gang-up tactics, but this does tempt me!

Next up is Sandor Clegane (or as I like to call him, The Gravedigger, amiright??), who costs 1 to attach to a unit and gives that unit the Order: Threaten "When this unit Activates: Target 1 enemy in Long Range. They become Weakened." This one's a bit of a disappointment, as this is a fairly weak effect.

Now let's talk about Shae, Hidden in Court. This is a very interesting NCU, as her ability "Finding The Best Patron" allows her to gain extra benefits every time she claims a zone. You start her with three order tokens (and if she runs out, you destroy her), and each time she claims a zone you can either Restore a wound to a friendly unit, Weaken one enemy unit, or give her two order tokens. It's a flexible little ability that mirrors her constant search for the best deal.

Finally, let's talk about the absolute powerhouse: Arya Stark. For just 1 point, she has an incredible ability. Each time a friendly unit in Long Range from her loses a Rank, place 1 order token on her card. Each time her unit performs at Attack, before rolling Attack Dice, you may remove 1 Order Token. If you do, you get to completely destroy 1 Attachment from the Defender. She's taking named characters out! That's names crossed off the list.

Thematically strong, tactically ridiculous, this fierce little lady is absolutely going to see play on the tabletop. All in all, this may be the strongest single character or unit in all the boxes covered in this review.

What do you think of these releases? Are you adding any of these to your retinue? Let us know in the comments!

The copies of Song of Ice and Fire TMG new releases used in this review were provided by Asmodee. All photos courtesy of the author. The terrain used in the background of this image was provided by Battle Systems Tabletop Games & Terrain.