Sunblade is an adaptation of the tabletop game The 9th Age: Fantasy Battle.
Build armies from a variety of races, units, monsters and heroes; and let them loose on the battlefield ! Overcome your foes with an in-depth turn-based combat system. Make use of the complex cover and line of sight system, various terrains to encircle, ambush or outflank the enemy in order to setup devastating charges, or crushing salvoes and size the advantage by using your strengths and covering your weaknesses. Unleash devastating barrages of damage spells, protect or enhance your allies, or curse your enemies engaging in a duel of minds for magical supremacy ! Manage the discipline of your soldiers, or wage a terror war with your enemy to instill fear and disarray in its battleline !

The Ninth Age: Fantasy Battles is a free fantasy tabletop built by a community of passionate wargamers. 
As fans of that game, we wanted to share it to a wider reach, by creating a video game following the rules of the physical tabletop game. We wanted to allow more people to be able to share this wonderful experience, by making the game more accessible in a digital format. 
No need to know the rules by heart, No need to buy and paint expensive models, and no need for the time and room to be able to play. 
Hop in Sunblade, and play with anyone around the world, Let the game engine compute the rules for you, and build any army you want. The only limit is your creativity ! 
And once you're as hooked as we are, join us on tabletop, to start discovering all the wonderful parts of the hobby of wargaming: Meet with your friends IRL, start painting your own models and terrain features, and much more..

Turn-based Rank-and-File Battles

Sunblade follows the rules from The Ninth Age: Fantasy Battle as closely as possible. As such, here are the key features of the game:

The Army Builder

Build, import and edit any army from the available factions of the game, following the rules and limits of the 9th Age; .. or not, outside of competitive matches and if your friend is okay with it, you can run more "creative" builds... (We see you dwarven players and your 10 grudge busters doomstacks you've always dreamed to play !)

The battle itself

After a deployment phase where each player places their units in their respective zones, the game itself starts. With 6 turns separated into 5 phases (Charge, Movement, Magic, Shooting and Melee), each player alternatively can use different actions available to him depending on the phase, in order to gain the upper hand on the enemy. The outcome of some key actions involving the units is determined by dice rolls. 
And that's where Sunblade's game engine starts to shine :

Each dice roll is automated, integrating every rule, modifier and conditions to compute the result and enact it on screen.

All movements available to a unit is computed by the game engine, the player only has to place the unit where he wants it to be, and the game will compute all the optimal individual moves to get there.

Combats are heavily optimized, the game presents to the player the choice he has to make, and computes the rest on it's own. Enjoy super quick melee combats !

The game score is computed in real time, giving the player all the tools he needs to make good decisions (or bad ones in the name of glory ! )

Sunblade comes with two base races, and more will come in the future. Each race is a unique blend of specific rank-and-file units, monsters, heroes, artillery pieces, ...

The Ogre Khans: A race of huge troll-sized humanoids, the ogres bring raw impact and melee power to the table. The aptly named 'Sons of the Avalanche' descend like a wall of flesh upon their enemy, bringing a variety of monster and melee combattants, all with a head and shoulders above the other races.

The Dwarven Holds: Stubborn and sturdy, the dwarves are quite a defensive race. With a wide array of equipment and artillery, they can kill from a distance their legs fail to reach. They are disciplined, elite and well protected, and will get the job done. And even if they seem slow at first, a well advised general will be wary of their melee capabilities; as they strike hard, and are quite resentful. Even if they run slowly, they will continue to do so until wrongs are righted, resulting in quite the surprise in the early morning, when the enemy army seen from afar in the evening is now at your door step...

Once backed, the main game will be available with the Dwarven Holds and Ogre Khans factions, all of their units and options, and implementing the 3rd edition rules. As for the rest of the factions, we'll need your help to fund them ! Remember, any backer with the game will have access to them for free when they come out !

We aim for the game to be available in Early Access around Q1/2 2026, and the unlocked races will come later down the line, as DLC (and will be available for free for all backers with Clan's Warrior or above ! ). 

A digital Steam Key is included in each tier, starting from Dwarf Warrior. "Early Access Game Key" grants you complete access to the game.

 

Badges

In-game badges that will be available to add on your standard bearers in game. You'll be able to choose which one you want, for everyone to see.

 

Great Hall of Fame

An in-game tribute to the campaign founders, were your name will be immortalized in a dwarven Hall dedicated to fallen heroes of the Age of Woes.

 

Unlocked Races

All unlocked races will be available for free for all tiers with a digital key, when they come out on Steam.

 

Closed Beta

Tiers with access to the Closed Beta will be able to play the game earlier than the official release on Steam, and will be able to give us feedback before the launch.

 

Closed Alpha

Tiers with access to the Closed Alpha will be able to play the game in it's earlier stages, and participate in the development of the game with feedback and playtesting. There will be a private Discord to discuss with the devs and fellow alpha testers. The Alpha is currently in development, and we hope to make it available to backers as soon as possible.

 

Exclusive Maps for Rewards Tiers

All maps unlocked by Rewards Tiers will only be available to the corresponding backers, or in a game hosted by them. Thoses are different from the maps in the Stretch Goals, which will be available for all.

 

Army Variants

Army Variants are visual effects and color palettes that change the overall look of an army. They are exclusive to the backers having unlocked the corresponding tiers.

 

Alternative Character Models

With the corresponding Reward Tier, backers will be able to choose a Character from the unlocked factions (the selection will be done at the end of the campaign), and unlock a completely new and exclusive design for that Character. Those design will be shared between backers that selected the same Character (for example, if two backers choose the King as their alternative Character, both will have access to the model).

 

Create your own Character

Backers with the King Tier will be able to collaborate with us to create their own Unique Character ! The Character will be tied to one of the unlocked factions, and will have its own unique design, 3D model, fluff and ruleset. When finished, you'll receive a 3D printable STL file to be able to play it at the table too ! In Sunblade, availability will be left at your own discretion, release it for all, or keep it exclusive, it's up to you. 
But, to keep it fair, the ruleset will be limited to outside of competitive matches, achievements, and when the other players involved agreed to it. (Visuals will be available as a skin at all times though. ) In order to ensure the overall consistency of the artistical direction, we reserve the right to adapt the design to integrate better into the game ! In the same way, we reserve the right to keep the ruleset within the realm of feasibility.

The current plan is to release Sunblade on Steam, on Windows PC. We are not closed to releasing on consoles, but it would require a lot of work to adapt the UI and controls. 
On a long term plan, if everything goes right, we'll tackle this issue, as a split-screen / couch game would perfectly fit Sunblade !

 

As for translation, we plan to release the game in English and French first, and we'll try to add the other languages supported by the Ninth Age project further down the line.