It’s impossible. It literally cannot be done. There is no way I can sell you the full scope of colors, depth, and history of this project. I spent more than a year designing the base game of Stronghold, and then another few months designing Undead variant. The game was out of print for 10 years until we finally decided to get back to it. I sat with my team and spent countless hours developing the game even further. Stronghold: Undead is a pure manifesto of my Board Games That Tell Stories tagline and trust me, it’s a great story on so many levels. It’s impossible to tell them all, and yet, let me try.

So where do I begin?

Besetment of the fortress is one of the richest and most inspiring themes in the fantasy genre. The battle for the Helm Deep and defending it against an army of Uruk-hai is a stunning piece of fiction. Having a board game telling this story, having a chance to command forces and try to break the walls, or fight in despair to defend them, is the theme for a great game night with your old friend.

Stronghold: Undead tells that story. You command dark forces of evil marching towards the Pearl Keep. You may summon Phantom Gale to move your forces, or change the foregrounds into rotten Marshes boiling with dark energy. You may cover ramparts with Ghostly Mist so your forces can move unnoticed. Your Vampires besiege walls and give their dark power to Phantoms that hover over the towers and dump defenders on the ground. Skeletons slowly march towards walls, while Strigoi abducts archers. Cursed bats veil the moon covering the battlefield in darkness. The whole table is in your control, wherever you look, it’s your army closing the pale fist around the human castle. It’s a majestic view.

That’s a glimpse of what the game has. 24 different spells for Invader player, different forces, different wall sections they can attack, and then we can start talking about the wealth of defender actions and his desperate fight to keep the fortress safe. Stronghold: Undead is a fascinating project that lets you relive the epic siege.Well, as I said, it is impossible to tell it all. It’s impossible to sell the depth of this project. And yet, I’ll try. I’ll try to give you a small glimpse, a piece of all the stories that Stronghold: Undead tells. I have a couple of weeks until the Kickstarter campaign finishes. Stay with me.